Endophthalmitis is an uncommon, yet extremely serious eye condition involving inflammation and edema that occurs in the interior of your eye, aka eyeball. This eye issue is a medical emergency because complete and permanent vision loss can happen very quickly.
Endophthalmitis telltale symptoms are eye pain, eye redness and reduced vision. Photophobia, eye bulging, puffy eyelid and hypopyon will likely occur as well.
Endophthalmitis eye inflammation and edema is caused by an infectious disease agent gaining entry into your eye, most often bacteria. Yet, fungus or protozoan pathogens are occasionally responsible. Although a virus can cause a serious eye infection, this type of infection is not usually endophthalmitis.
It’s not easy for a pathogen to gain entry into your eyeball. But there are a couple of health conditions that are known to create this eye infection opportunity, including:
- septicemia
- untreated keratitis
- penetrating injury of eyeball
- cataract or other intraocular eye surgery
And once inside, your eye offers bacteria an ideal environment for rapid proliferation.
Because an infection can swiftly grow inside your eye causing irreparable eye damage, treatment of endophthalmitis cannot afford even a couple of hours delay to preserve your vision. Initial treatment is an antibiotic injection directly into your eye, coupled with taking this drug intravenously or orally.
Once your infection is under control, corticosteroids may be given to assist in reducing eye inflammation and eye edema. And surgery may be necessary to remove any infected tissue from inside the eye.
So if you experience eye pain, eye redness and reduced vision, particularly after eye surgery or eye injury, do not delay getting with your health care provider or to an emergency room, as in immediately.