AIM:To investigate the age-related cataract patients' eyelid margin and conjunctival sac bacterial distribution and eliminating effects of different antibiotic eye drops and conjunctival sac washing fluid.

METHODS: A total of 216 age-related cataract patients(216 eyes)who were hospitalized for operation in our hospital were enrolled from January 2015 to November 2015, and randomly divided into three groups(72 eyes respectively): Patients in group A were treated with 3g/L tobramycin eye drop; group B were treated with 5g/L levofloxacin eye drop and group C were treated with both two eye drops before surgery. And then each group was randomly divided into two groups: moxifloxacin group(110 eyes)and povidone iodine group(106 eyes). After the routine disinfection and before the formal start of the operation, the conjunctival sac was irrigated with 1.6g/L moxifloxacin or 5g/L povidone iodine respectively. The conjunctival sac and lid margin specimen were collected before admission without any treatment, before and after conjunctival sac irrigation for germicultures and drug susceptibility tests, at the end of operation, conjunctival sac specimen and aqueous humor were collected for germicultures and drug susceptibility tests.

RESULTS:The germiculture positive rate of eyelid margin was 86.6% and the bacterial culture positive rate of conjunctival sac was 25.0% before operation. In groups A, B and C before and after topical antibiotics application, the germiculture positive rate of eyelid margin was 86.1% and 36.1%, 84.7% and 31.9%, 88.9% and 30.6% respectively; the germiculture positive rate of conjunctival sac was 25.0% and 11.1%,26.4% and 11.1%,23.6% and 8.3% respectively. In moxifloxacin group and povidone iodine group before and after conjunctival sac irrigation, the germiculture positive rate of eyelid margin was 33.6% and 10.9%, 32.1% and 10.4% respectively; the germiculture positive rate of conjunctival sac was 10.0% and 0, 10.4% and 0 respectively.

CONCLUSION: Both 5g/L levofloxacin eye drop and 3g/L tobramycin eye drop are effective in diminishing conjunctival sac or eyelid margin bacterium before cataract sugery, the combined effect is better. Both 5g/L PVP-I and 1.6g/L moxifloxacin can be used to irrigate conjunctival sac before cataract surgery.