Piperacillin levels in human tears and aqueous humor

Thirty patients scheduled to undergo elective intraocular surgery were each given 4 g of piperacillin intravenously. Specimens of serum, tears, and aqueous humor were collected from zero to nine hours after infusion and assayed for piperacillin content by high pressure liquid chromatography. In noninflamed eyes piperacillin sodium distributed into tears and aqueous humor in concentrations exceeding the minimum inhibitory concentration required for many gram-positive and gram-negative organisms. Higher levels of piperacillin were anticipated in patients with inflamed eyes who possessed an altered blood-aqueous barrier, and in patients receiving serial doses of this agent.