We report a case of postoperative endophthalmitis in the cataract patient, associated with removal of an intralenticular foreign body that had remained in place without symptoms for 20 years.

A 45-year-old male visited our outpatient clinic complaining of gradual visual loss in his right eye over the past 3 months. In slit-lamp examinations, anterior capsular opacification, nuclear sclerosis, and posterior subcapsular opacity were observed in the right eye. Twenty years before, a tiny metallic projectile had hit his right eye, but slit-lamp examination at the time of injury did not reveal any intraocular foreign body. We decided to undergo cataract surgery. During phacoemulsification, a metallic foreign body was found in the lens and safely removed; then an intraocular lens was implanted. As hypopyon was evident 3 days later, we injected intravitreal antibiotics and applied fortified antibiotic eye drops to the right eye. The anterior chamber inflammation improved and the best-corrected visual acuity recovered to 1.0.

Surgeon should be aware of that endophthalmitis could develop after cataract surgery with removal of an intralenticular foreign body that had been in place for 20 years. But did not trigger inflammation or cause any symptoms as the cataract progressed.