Necrotising anterior scleritis after pterygium surgery

Necrotising anterior scleritis is a rare sequela of ocular surgery. Typically an intense scleral inflammation develops at or adjacent to the site of the previous surgery. Necrosis supervenes and may then progress circumferentially to involve much of the anterior sclera. Surgically induced necrotising scleritis (SINS) has been previously described after cataract extraction, trabeculectomy, retinal detachment and strabismus surgery. We report three cases of SINS following pterygium excision. In each case the disease was prolonged, progressive and required protracted immunosuppressive therapy.