Intraoperative mitomycin C in the treatment of pterygium.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of intraoperative mitomycin C in preventing the recurrence of primary pterygium.

METHODS

In this prospective, randomized study, 38 eyes of 35 patients with primary pterygium were evaluated. In 19 eyes, the "bare sclera technique" combined with intraoperative application of 0.2 mg/mL (0.02%) mitomycin C for five minutes was performed (mitomycin C treated group). The other 19 eyes--taken as control group--underwent surgical excision alone. Statistics were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Fischer's exact test.

RESULTS

Patients were 20-38 years of age. The mean age was 25.29 +/- 5.08 in the mitomycin C treated group and 25.00 +/- 5.19 in the control group. During the mean follow-up of 17.04 months (range, 12-36 months; SD = 5.89), 4 recurrences (21%) were observed in the mitomycin C treated group and 11 (57.8%) in the control group. The difference between the two groups was significant (p = 0.045). No postoperative complication was encountered in both groups except for recurrences.

CONCLUSION

Intraoperative mitomycin C was found to be effective in preventing the recurrence of primary pterygium.