Acute endophthalmitis incidence: Intravitreal triamcinolone

Objective: To report the incidence of acute postinjection endophthalmitis following intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) as an office procedure. Methods: Retrospective, noncomparative, consecutive, interventional case series of all patients who had received IVTA at 2 clinical centers between January 1, 2000, and January 30, 2004. Results: A total of 1006 eyes received IVTA. None of the eyes developed acute, culture-positive, postoperative endophthalmitis in the 6 weeks following the procedure. One patient developed acute, culture-negative, postoperative endophthalmitis 4 days after receiving IVTA, resulting in an incidence of 0.10%. In this case, the presenting symptoms were decreased vision and acute conjunctival erythema. The case was notable for the absence of pain or hypopyon. Conclusion: Although acute postoperative endophthalmitis may follow IVTA, our experience suggests that this is a relatively uncommon event.