Efficacy and safety of limbal-conjunctival autografting with limbal fixation sutures after pterygium excision.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of limbal-conjunctival autografting with limbal fixation sutures after pterygium excision.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the records of 90 patients (103 eyes) who received limbal-conjunctival autografts with limbal fixation sutures after excision of the primary pterygium (82 eyes) and recurrent pterygium (21 eyes).

RESULTS

The study subjects comprised 41 male patients (47 eyes) and 49 female patients (56 eyes) with a mean age of 51.1 ± 10.5 years (range 32-77). The mean follow-up period was 18.9 ± 9.2 months (range 12-50). Among the 103 eyes, recurrence occurred in 2 eyes (1.9%) after 2 and 4 months, respectively. As complications, 1 case of conjunctival cyst and 2 cases of pseudopterygium at the donor site were reported.

CONCLUSIONS

Limbal-conjunctival autografting with limbal fixation sutures appears to be an effective and safe method of reducing the recurrence rate after pterygium excision.