Comparison of Topical Gatifloxacin and Levofloxacin at Different Durations in Eliminating Conjunctival Bacterial Flora.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of topical levofloxacin and gatifloxacin at different durations in reducing conjunctival bacteria.

Methods

In total, 285 patients (290 eyes) scheduled to undergo ophthalmic surgery were divided into 6 groups to receive either gatifloxacin or levofloxacin eye drops for 1 day (12 times/day), 2 days (6 times/day), or 3 days (4 times/day) before surgery. Conjunctival sac specimens were collected from all patients before treatment (T0) and after treatment (T1). All specimens were inoculated onto Columbia blood agar plates.

Results

Before treatment, the culture positivity rate was 50.34% for 290 samples, and after treatment, the culture positivity rate was 11.72% (P < 0.05). Corynebacterium spp. and Staphylococcus spp. were the most predominantly detected microbial groups before and after treatment. The bacterial eradication rate was higher in the gatifloxacin group (87.01%) than in the levofloxacin group (81.15%). There was no difference in culture positivity between gatifloxacin 1-, 2-, and 3-day groups (P > 0.05). The culture positivity rate was significantly higher in the levofloxacin 1-day group than in the 2- and 3-day groups (P < 0.05). Both drugs were effective in removing gram-positive bacillus at different durations (P < 0.01), but only the levofloxacin treatment for 3 days significantly reduced the positive cultures of gram-positive cocci in the conjunctival sac (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Our study demonstrated that preoperative use of levofloxacin to prevent infection takes at least 2-3 days, and 1 day is a sufficient duration for topical gatifloxacin to significantly reduce conjunctival bacterial flora.