SYSTEMIC PROPHYLAXIS OF EXPERIMENTAL STAPHYLOCOCCAL ENDOPHTHALMITIS -COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF SPARFLOXACIN, PEFLOXACIN, IMIPENEM, VANCOMYCIN, AND AMIKACIN

The preventive efficacy of several antibiotics in experimental staphyl ococcal endophthalmitis was evaluated. Two hours before bilateral intr avitreal infection with 500 cfu of Staphylococcus aureus, 18 pigmented phakic rabbits were assigned to receive a single intramuscular inject ion of sparfloxacin (50 mg/kg), pefloxacin (50 mg/kg), imipenem (50 mg /kg), vancomycin (30 mg/kg), amikacin (15 mg/ kg), or saline and were killed 24 h after infection (6 eyes/group). Sarfloxacin, pefloxacin, a nd imipenem were significantly (P < .001) more effective than saline. All but 1 of the sparfloxacin-treated eyes were culture negative. To d etermine whether the effect persisted, an additional 24 rabbits were t reated with sparfloxacin, pefloxacin, imipenem, or saline and were kil led 48 h after infection (12 eyes/group). Sparfloxacin, pefloxacin, an d imipenem were effective (P < .001). All sparfloxacin-treated eyes re mained culture negative. These results show that systemic antibiotic a dministration prevents the development of experimental endophthalmitis and that further studies of sparfloxacin as a prophylactic agent are warranted.