Conjunctival bacterial flora and antibiotic resistance pattern in patients undergoing cataract surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the conjunctival bacterial flora and its antibiotic resistance pattern in eyes of patients undergoing cataract surgery.


METHODS
From August to October 2004, 50 patients undergoing cataract surgery in the "Fundação Altino Ventura", Recife, Brazil, were prospectively evaluated. Conjunctival material was obtained on the day of surgery, before the application of topical anesthetic, antibiotic or povidone-iodine. The collected material was inoculated and bacterioscopic analysis was carried out. In the cases where there was bacterial growth, antibiotic susceptibility tests and cultures, for isolation and identification of the bacteria, were performed.


RESULTS
Of the 50 eyes, 43 (86.0%) had positive cultures. The coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CNS), found in 27 (54.0%) eyes, was the most frequent organism. More than 90% of the isolates of this bacterium were susceptible to cephalotin, vancomycin, chloramphenicol, ofloxacin and gatifloxacin; 70 to 90% were susceptible to gentamicin, cefotaxime, oxacillin and ciprofloxacin; and less than 70% were sensible to neomycin. Four (10.5%) of the bacterial isolates were resistant to four or more antibiotics, two of them were CNS.


CONCLUSIONS
The most frequent bacterium in the conjunctival flora is the coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. The isolates of this organism showed low susceptibility rate to neomycin, and high susceptibility rates to cephalotin, vancomycin, chloramphenicol, ofloxacin and gatifloxacin.
Fundação Altino Ventura/HOPE, Recife, PE, Brazil. t_arantes@yahoo.com
Tiago Eugênio Faria e
TE
Arantes
Ronald Fonseca
RF
Cavalcanti
Maria de Fátima Alves
Mde F
Diniz
Maiara Santos
MS
Severo
João
J
Lins Neto
Célia Maria Machado Barbosa de
CM
Castro
D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000382:microbiology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents