Assessment of Efficacy of Ofloxacin and Chloramphenicol in Patients with External Ocular Infection: a Comparative Study

Background: Pathogenic micro-organisms are the most commonly involved etiologic agents in causing external ocular diseases. Conjunctiva, lid and cornea are the most commonly affected parts of the eye. Ofloxacin is exceptionally potent against a wide range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and obligate anaerobes. It is also reported to be effective against ocular pathogens. The action of chloramphenicol is usually bacteriostatic. Hence; we planned the present study to compare the effectiveness of ofloxacin and chloramphenicol in patients with external ocular infection. Materials & methods: The present retrospective study included retrospective assessment of all the patients with external ocular infections who underwent treatment with ofloxacin or chloramphenicol. Assessment of symptoms was done based on ophthalmic examination as done by visual acuity and ophthalmoscopy at three follow-up times; one day time, four days times and last visit at one week time. Colonyforming units were counted, bacteria identified, and sensitivity tests to ofloxacin and chloramphenicol were performed. A culture was considered positive if the colony count exceeded the threshold for any bacterial class. Clinical improvement was defined as a decline in symptoms of external ocular infection. T At the third visit, both microbial and clinical improvement was assessed from the culture positive patients. All the results were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: 100 percent of the patients in the ofloxacin group and in the chloramphenicol group showed improvement against Haemophilus influenza. When assessed against Strept. spps, 91 and 100 percent of the patients in the ofloxacin and chloramphenicol group showed improvement respectively. 87 and 90 percent of the subjects in the ofloxacin and chloramphenicol group showed improvement against Staph. epidermidis respectively. Among the patients of the ofloxacin group, clinical and microbial improvement was shown by 100 and 82.5 percent of the subjects respectively while in the chloramphenicaol group, clinical and microbial improvement was shown by 94.5 and 84.5 percent of patients respectively. Conclusion: For the treatment of patients with ocular infections, the efficacy of ofloxacin in comparison with chloramphenicol has clinical equivalence.