One-year results of the triple procedure for primary pterygia

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this work was to study the effectiveness and potential complications of adjunctive intraoperative mitomycin-C (MMC) application combined with limbal-conjunctival autografting after primary pterygium excision. Patients and methods Fifty-seven eyes of 43 patients with primary pterygia were randomized to receive pterygium excision, followed by either a free conjunctival autograft (control group, n = 27) or an adjunctive intraoperative MMC 0.02% application for 2 min and limbal-conjunctival autograft (triple procedure group, n = 30). All patients were followed for 12 months. Results After 1 year, the recurrence rate was 14.81 and 0% in the control and the triple procedure groups, respectively (P < 0.05). Most complications were transient and mild. The duration of surgery was significantly shorter in the control group (P < 0.01). The surgery did not significantly alter the corrected distance visual acuity or the average absolute astigmatism in either group. Conclusion Simple excision of pterygium combined with adjunctive intraoperative MMC 0.02% application for 2 min and limbal-conjunctival autografting is a safe and effective way of treating primary pterygia.

Keywords

• limbal-conjunctival autograft
• mitomycin-c
• primary pterygia