Pars plana vitrectomy with silicone oil versus pars plana vitrectomy alone for postoperative endophthalmitis: A randomized controlled trial

The role of silicone oil (SO) tamponade in pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for postoperative endophthalmitis remains controversial. This study compared outcomes of PPV with SO versus PPV alone in severe cases, incorporating intraocular cytokine profiling and regression analysis.

In this prospective randomized controlled trial, 40 eyes with post-phacoemulsification postoperative endophthalmitis unresponsive to initial intravitreal antibiotics were randomized to PPV alone (n = 20) or PPV with 1000-cSt SO tamponade (n = 20). The primary outcome was change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA, logMAR) at 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes included recurrence of infection, retinal detachment (RD), and intraocular cytokine levels (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-8). Correlation and multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of final visual outcome.