Preoperative Bacteriological Profile And Its Antibiotic Pattern Of Cataract Cases Presenting In A Tertiary Eye Care Hospital In Salem

Aim: To isolate and identify the bacterial isolates from preoperative cases presenting at an eye care hospital in Salem and determine its antibiogram pattern. Method: Conjunctival swabs were obtained from 84 preoperative cases undergoing cataract surgery at Dr.Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Salem. The swabs were processed by standard methods. The bacterial isolates deemed significant by growth in culture media and positive for direct microscopic findings were taken for the study. The antibiotic sensitivity pattern was determined by Kirby-Bauer method. Result: In this study the culture positivity accounted for 71(85%) cases and 13(15%) cases showed no growth. The predominant isolate was Staph epidermidis in 23(32.3%) cases followed by Staph aureus in 12(16.9%) cases. Non hemolytic streptococci accounted for 10(14%) cases followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae in 7(10%) cases . The gram negative isolates included Acinetobacter spp in 3(4.2%) cases, Aeromonas spp in 3(4.2%) cases and Serratia spp in2(3%) cases. In susceptibility testing, ciprofloxcin showed a wide coverage against 54(86%) of the 63 gram positive cocci and 5(63%) of the total 8 gram negative isolates. The coverage of sisomycin, tobramycin and ofloxcin against gram positive cocci tested were 73.01%, 65.07% and 60.01% respectively. All the isolates of gram negative bacilli showed resistance to ofloxcin. Ciprofloxacin, sisomycin and amikacin was the most effective antibiotics against Aeromonas spp in this study. Conclusion: ciprofloxacin, sisomycin and tobramycin having a wide range of activity against both gram positive and gram negative organism indicating it as a potent antibiotic for preoperative cases.