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Survey finds excellent awareness of ESCRS Endophthalmitis Study, high usage of intracameral antibiotic
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MILAN — A 2012 telephone survey of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons database and colleague referrals found that European physicians were aware of the ESCRS Endophthalmitis Study, Peter Barry, MD, said here.
“One of the pleasant surprises was that, without any prompting, 91% of the respondents actually knew about the study,” Barry said at the ESCRS meeting.
Peter Barry
The ESCRS Endophthalmitis Study, published in 2006, found that prophylactic intracameral cefuroxime injection effectively reduced the rate of endophthalmitis after phacoemulsification. Because there is no commercial preparation yet on the market, cefuroxime is often used off label, prepared in a “kitchen pharmacy” method, Barry said.
“We wanted to determine, in the 6 years since this study, usage. What is the uptake of intracameral cefuroxime in Europe?” he said.
The survey was conducted through 193 computer-assisted telephone interviews spanning 31 European countries. The majority of respondents were in hospital practice.
The survey found that 74% of respondents always or usually use intracameral antibiotics and 26% did not or did so occasionally. When asked if they would use a commercial preparation of cefuroxime if it were available, 73% said that they would.
“In this survey … the vast majority of those use cefuroxime and a small number would not use it, even if it were available, under any circumstances,” Barry said.
Disclosure: Barry has no relevant financial disclosures.