Newer Antibiotics May Be Best Choice to Combat Infection After LASIK and Other Refractive Surgery
June 2, 2009
As reported in the June 2009 issue of Ophthalmology published by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, researchers in South Korea treated samples of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS), Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and gram-negative bacilli obtained from conjunctiva swabs prior to refractive surgery with three newer-generation fluoroquinolones — gatifloxacin, moxifloxacin, and gemifloxacin — and two older-generation antibiotics in that class — ofloxacin and levofloxacin.
Among the findings was that the three newer-generation antibiotics as a group were significantly more effective against methicillin-resistant CNS than the two older ones. Specifically, for methicillin-resistant CNS, there was high-level resistance to ofloxacin and low-level resistance to levofloxacin, some level of resistance to gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin, and no resistance to gemifloxacin.
The researchers concluded that the conventional strategy of reserving newer antimicrobial agents for use only when initial treatment with the older antimicrobial fails may not be a wise strategy in connection with this class of antibiotics.
Read further details about the research on MedPage Today.
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