Endophthalmitis following pediatric intraocular surgery for congenital cataracts and congenital glaucoma

The incidence of endophthalmitis following pediatric anterior segment surgery is currently unknown. The paucity of reports of this entity has led some observers to recommend simultaneous bilateral surgery for congenital cataracts or glaucoma. In this study, we surveyed over 500 pediatric ophthalmologists and glaucoma specialists concerning their knowledge of, or involvement with, endophthalmitis following pediatric intraocular surgery. Seventeen cases of endophthalmitis were documented to occur out of 24 000 reported surgical cases. This results in an incidence estimate of 0.071%, or 7 cases per 10 000, which is similar to that recently reported following adult extracapsular cataract extraction. The presence of infection was diagnosed by the 3rd postoperative day in 82% of cases. An organism was documented by culture in 65% of cases. The organism was gram positive in all cases. Visual outcome was generally poor with 65% having no light perception. The presence of possible concurrent risk factors for postoperative endophthalmitis, including nasolacrimal duct obstruction and upper respiratory infection, was noted in 8 of the 17 cases.