Effect of intravenous therapy

Leopold and Scheie (16,17) first introduced intravitreal antimicrobial therapy for treatment of endophthalmitis shortly after the development of antibiotics, but intraocular antibiotics did not gain favor for treatment of endophthalmitis for several decades. Up until the 1970s intravenous antimicrobials, frequent topical drops, and subconjunctival injections were the favored routes of antimicrobial delivery. Intravenous antimicrobial treatment was demonstrated to be effective in some cases of Staphylococcus epidermidis endophthalmitis, but effectiveness of intravenous therapy has not been demonstrated in randomized clinical trials (18). 

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