ABSTRACT

To evaluate the results of limbal conjunctival autograft transplantation in cases with primary and recurrent pterygium.

A total of 54 eyes of 49 patients who were operated for pterygium with limbal conjunctival autograft technique between April 2011-July 2013 with at least 6 months of follow-up were retrospectively assessed. All cases were distributed into 3 groups according to the postoperative therapy and the primary/recurrent nature of pterygium: Recurrent pterygium with postoperative topical cyclosporin A+hydroxypropylmethylcellulose treatment were included in group 1, primary pterygium with postoperative topical cyclosporin A+hydroxypropylmethylcellulose were included in group 2, and primary pterygium without either topical cyclosporin A or hydroxypropylmethylcellulose were included in group 3.

Eleven eyes of 9 patients were detected for group 1, 11 eyes of 11 patients for group 2, and 32 eyes of 29 patients were detected for group 3. Follow-up period was 17±9.1 months for group 1, 14.4±6.1 months for group 2, 13.2±7 months for group 3, and 14.2±7.3 months for all groups. Totally, two recurrences (3.7%) were observed as one case for both group 1 (9.1%) and group 3 (3.1%) during the follow-up period. The recurrence rate between the three groups was not statistically significantly different (p=0.653).

Limbal conjunctival autograft technique is an effective and safe technique in excision of primary and recurrent pterygium.