The Effect of Trauma on the Ocular Penetration of Intravenous Ciprofloxacin

To study the intraocular pharmacokinetics of intravenously administered ciprofloxacin following eye trauma. Twenty-three New Zealand albino rabbits and 12 Yorkshire pigs each received a surgically induced scleral injury to the right eye. Following repair, each rabbit received a single 30-mg intravenous infusion of ciprofloxacin. Each pig received either two 200-mg doses or two 400-mg doses of intravenous ciprofloxacin given 12 hours apart. Vitreous and serum samples were harvested at 0.5, 1, 4, 6, and 12 hours after antibiotic administration in rabbits and 1 hour after the second dose in pigs. Bioassays for ciprofloxacin were performed on each sample, and results were statistically compared by t test. The untraumatized left eye in each animal served as a control. The mean vitreous concentration of ciprofloxacin in traumatized rabbit eyes was 0.37 μg/ml. This level was sustained above levels in control eyes (0.18 μg/ml) for at least 4 hours following antibiotic administration. In control eyes, intravitreal levels peaked at 1 hour. Mean vitreous concentrations ± SD in traumatized pig eyes were 0.091 ± 0.017 μg/ml in swine that had received 200-mg doses of ciprofloxacin vs 0.312 ± 0.153 μg/ml in swine that had received 400-mg doses (P = .02). Mean vitreous concentrations of ciprofloxacin in control eyes were not affected by increasing dosage. In both animal models, experimental surgical trauma increased intravitreal ciprofloxacin delivery. In addition, systemically administered ciprofloxacin achieved intravitreous levels exceeding minimum inhibitory concentrations for common ocular pathogens, suggesting a role for ciprofloxacin in the prophylaxis of posttraumatic endophthalmitis.