Comparative Microbiologic Spectrum of Acute & Chronic Dacryocystitis

 Dacryocystitis is an inflammation of the lacrimal sac, which occurs due to obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct. This study was conducted to know the changing trends in organism causing acute and chronic dacryocystitis.

It is a prospective study done on consecutive 30 patients attending to Ophthalmology Department. Samples were collected and bacteria were detected by conventional microbiological tests and antibacterial susceptibility of the isolates were detected according to CLSI guidelines.

From a total of 30 samples processed, acute dacryocystitis was found to be more prevalent in 20 to 29 years of age group followed by involvement of 30 to 39 years’ age group. Females were seen to be predominantly affected than males in both acute and chronic dacryocystitis. Of the total 30 samples processed, 36.7% were from chronic dacryocystitis cases and 63.36% were from acute dacryocystitis. In both acute and chronic dacryocystitis, gram-positive organisms were the predominant accounting for 16.67% and 23.27% respectively. Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) (10%) was the predominant Gram-positive organism in acute dacryocystitis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (10%) in chronic dacryocystitis. P.aeruginosa (3.33%) was the gram-negative organism isolated from acute cases of dacryocystitis and E.coli (6.67%) was the predominant gram-negative organism isolated from chronic cases of dacryocystitis.

It’s necessary for the treating clinicians to note that the type of organism involved in acute and chronic dacryocystitis could be different, and they must include suitable antibiotics for empirical treatment to avoid further complications.