Ocular Infections: Prophylaxis and Management – Clinical Guide

Post-surgical ocular infections are serious vision-threatening complications of any intra- or extraocular surgery which are avoidable. The infections vary in terms of time of onset, severity and course. They may range from a small infiltrate to the most serious of these complications such as post-operative endophthalmitis or panophthalmitis leading to loss of the eye. Various books on management of infections in ophthalmic practices are available; however, none provides in detail the basic precautions to be followed and steps to be taken pre-operatively, intra-operatively and post-operatively to prevent the occurrence of ophthalmic infections. With the rising number of dedicated centres for ophthalmic practice both in the government and private sector and increase in the number of ocular surgeries being performed, the incidence of infection and endophthalmitis is on a rise which is a dreaded complication and a nightmare for ophthalmologists. This calls for a certain set of criterion to be followed at every step to prevent such avertable complications. This book attempts to lay down guidelines for the prophylaxis of ocular infections which must be followed and are useful not only for the ophthalmic surgeons but also for the nursing staff, ophthalmic assistants and postgraduate students. The first half of the book enlists the prophylactic measures to be taken to prevent post-operative infections. The second part of the book deals with the management of cases of infection after various ophthalmic surgeries when they occur, despite taking all precautions. The book has been written in a user-friendly style with a precise format assisted by suitable illustrations and tables, wherever appropriate for easy understanding. We hope that the book will serve its purpose of providing useful guidelines to the ophthalmic community to prevent post-surgical ocular infections and reduce ocular morbidity.