To evaluate the efficacy and prognosis of evisceration with primary orbital implant placement in patients with endophthalmitis and compare it to phthisis bulbi patients.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent evisceration with primary implant placement by a single surgeon from January 2005 to December 2011 at Pusan National University Hospital. Age, gender, underlying ocular disease, systemic illness, type and size of implant, follow-up period, and the causative organism were evaluated in patients with endophthalmitis. Success rates and prevalence of complications were compared between endophthalmitis and phthisis patients.

The present study included 18 patients (18 eyes) with endophthalmitis and 23 patients (23 eyes) with phthisis. Patients in the endophthalmitis group were older than the patients in the phthisis group and no significant differences in gender, size of implant, and underlying diseases between endophthalmitis and phthisis patients were found. Sixteen endophthalmitis and 20 phthisis patients showed successful surgical outcomes with no significant differences ( p = 0.31), and implant exchange rates were not significantly different between endophthalmitis and phthisis bulbi patients ( p = 0.52).

Evisceration with primary orbital implant placement in patients with endophthalmitis is a safe and effective treatment method. Comparison between endophthalmitis and phthisis showed no significant differences in success outcomes and complication rates.