Effect of Pterygium Morphology on Recurrence with Preoperative Subconjunctival Injection of Mitomycin-C in Primary...

To investigate the effect of pterygium morphology on recurrence with preoperative subconjunctival injection of mitomycin-C in primary pterygium surgery.

Quasi-experimental study.

Eye Department, Combined Military Hospital, Malir Cantt, Karachi, from February 2017 to February 2018.

On the basis of pterygium morphology, 165 eyes of 165 patients were equally divided into three equal groups of atrophic, intermediate and fleshy pterygia. In each morphology group, length was graded into three groups using limbus, pupil margin and midiris as landmarks. All pterygia received 0.1 ml of mitomycin-C injection in a concentration of 0.15 mg/ml at 24 hours prior to undergoing a bare sclera surgical excision technique in all cases. All patients were followed up for 12 months. The recurrence rate was recorded in each morphology group. Pearson Chi-Square test was used to compare recurrence rate and morphology group. Fisher's exact test was applied to compare recurrence rate with length and age in each type of morphology.

Among the three morphology groups, the recurrence rate was statistically significant between fleshy and atrophic pterygia (p=0.01) and no significant association was found among other morphology comparisons. Age less than 40 years had a significant effect on recurrence in all morphology groups. Length did not affect the recurrence rate in any of morphology types.

Recurrence of primary pterygium is related to fleshiness of the pterygium and is a significant risk factor for recurrence after preoperative subconjunctival injection of mitomycin-C given at 24 hours before sclera excision.