TAP AND INJECT VERSUS PARS PLANA VITRECTOMY FOR POSTPROCEDURAL ENDOPHTHALMITIS A Meta-analysis

Purpose: To compare the visual outcomes after prompt pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with tap biopsy and intravitreal antimicrobial injection to treat postinjection and postsurgery endophthalmitis. Methods: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid MEDLINE, and Ovid Embase databases were searched for articles published between January 2010 and November 2020. Two independent reviewers selected articles and extracted data. We analyzed data in RevMan 5.3 and assessed methodological quality using the Cochrane ROBINS-I tool. The mean improvement in visual outcome was compared between PPV and intravitreal antimicrobial injection as a relative risk of improving >= 2 lines and a mean logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution difference in improvement. Results: Fifteen retrospective case series (1,355 eyes), of which 739 eyes (55%) received intravitreal antimicrobial injection and 616 (45%) received PPV as initial treatment, were included. The overall relative risk of improving 2 or more lines in PPV in comparison with intravitreal antimicrobial injection was 1.04 (95% CI 0.88-1.23; P = 0.61; I-2 = 0%) with a mean difference of 0.04 (95% CI -0.18 to 0.27; P = 0.69; I-2 = 0%). The results stayed robust when subgroup analysis based on causative procedure for endophthalmitis was performed. Conclusion: Intravitreal antimicrobial injection is noninferior to PPV for the treatment of postcataract operation, postinjection, and post-PPV endophthalmitis.