Topical antibiotics may cause future resistance

The routine use of topical antibiotics after intravitreal injection treatment appears to result in an increased risk of antibiotic resistant strains in the eye and nasopharynx. The use of antibiotics in this way has become the norm to avoid the devastating effects of a post-operative endophthalmitis, a devastating and sight-threatening occurrence. Intravitreal injection is the fastest growing procedure in ophthalmology and therefore has resulted in increased antibiotic use. Professor Stephen Kim of the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, and leader of the research published in this month's Archives of Ophthalmology, stated 'The use of topical antibiotics is promoting antimicrobial resistance, prompting an emergence of resistant strains.'