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Study finds 6.7% incidence of bacterial contamination of intravitreal injection needles
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Contamination of intravitreal injection needles was more common than the development of post-injection endophthalmitis, according to a study.
The study included 200 needle cultures from 178 injections and 22 controls. Patients received intravitreal injections of Avastin (bevacizumab, Genentech) or Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) for age-related macular degeneration. Pre-injection prophylaxis comprised moxifloxacin 0.5% and povidone iodine 5%.
Study results showed that 12 needles (6.7%) tested positive for bacteria. Six needles tested positive for Staphylococcus, two for Escherichia coli, two for Enterococcus faecalis, one for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and one for Klebsiella pneumoniae, according to a poster presented by Henry D. Perry, MD, and colleagues at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.
Results showed positive cultures among eight of the first 53 patients who received injections (15%) and a total of 12 positive cultures in the entire group (6.7%), Dr. Perry said in a subsequent interview with Ocular Surgery News.
An unrestricted grant from Allergan funded the study.