Incidence and Risk Factors for Post-Intravitreal Injection Endophthalmitis in a Modified Operating Room Setting

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence and risk factors of post-intravitreal injection (IVI) endophthalmitis in a single center modified operating room (OR) setting.

Methods: In a retrospective chart review study, patients who underwent IVI in a modified OR between September 2014 and November 2016 were included. Cases of post-IVI endophthalmitis were identified from the Hospital Infection Control Committee records, which tracks all post-procedure infections.

Results: 51 472 IVIs (37 814 patients) including 13 658 bilateral simultaneous injections were performed during the study period. There were 17 cases of endophthalmitis (0.033%, 95% CI 0.019%-0.052%). There were no cases of bilateral endophthalmitis. Age, sex, indication for IVI, simultaneous bilateral injections, number of previous injections, and type of injected drug were not significantly associated with incidence of endophthalmitis.

Conclusion: Post-IVI endophthalmitis is rare in this modified OR setting. Simultaneous bilateral IVIs and on-site preparation of injections are safe under these conditions.

Keywords:

• endophthalmitis
• intravitreal injection

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the following people for their contributions to this study: Fatemeh Sadat Sobhanian (providing information about OR activities and statistics), Leila Feizinia (providing archived medical files), Hadise Hoseini (providing Hospital Infection Control Committee records and information about OR activities), Tahere Sadeghi (providing electronic registry data), Zeinab Hamidi (providing electronic registry data), Shadi Rezaei (providing Hospital Infection Control Committee records).

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.