evaluation of the results of the culture of fornix and surgical needle during strabismus surgery

purpose : to assess the rate of microbial contamination of the fornix and suture needle during strabismus surgery methods : in a prospective study in khatam-al-anbia eye hospital, fornix samples and suture needles were cultured in 28 eyes of 28 patients. fornix sampling was performed before and after preparation of the eyes and the needles and remained string were transferred to culture media directly at the end of operation. all samples were cultured in aerobic and anaerobic media. findings were analyzed statistically. results : twenty-four cases (85.7%) of pre-preparation samples were positive for staphylococcus (coagulase positive and negative, 67.85%), peptostreptococcus (3.57%) and gram positive bacillus (14.28%). after preparation, 16 cases (57.1%) of infected samples changed to sterile (p=0.002). only 15 cases (53.57%) of needles culture were sterile. there was no evidence of cellulitis or significant conjunctivitis postoperatively in patients. conclusion : because of close relationship between the organisms cultured from pre-preparation fornix’s samples and needles culture, we concluded that the most probable source of contamination is the normal flora of the fornices. also because of high possibility of needle contamination (46.43%) during strabismus surgery, care must be taken to avoid globe penetration and if it happened, prophylaxis for endophthalmitis seems to be reasonable.   iranian journal of ophthalmology 201123(3):39-42 © 2011 by the iranian society of ophthalmology