Outcomes of preoperative intrapterygial injection of mitomycin C for pterygium excision with and without inferior conjunctival flap

PURPOSE: This study aimed to report the comparison of recurrence rate and complications of intrapterygial injection of mitomycin C (MMC) 1 month before bare sclera excision of pterygium with and without conjunctival flap from the inferior bulbar conjunctiva. METHODS: This prospective interventional study enrolled 60 patients of pterygia from November 2010 to June 2012. All eyes received 0.1 ml (0.02%) of intrapterygial MMC injection 1 month preoperatively. Patients were divided into two groups of 30 each: Group 1 – bare scleral excision (BSE) and Group 2 – BSE with conjunctival flap from the inferior bulbar conjunctiva to cover the bare sclera. Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and unpaired t-test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The mean age was 40.6 ± 12.8 years and 36.9 ± 10.9 years in Group 1 and 2, respectively, (P = 0.2329). There were 11 (36.7%) males and 19 (63.3%) females in Group 1 and 7 (23.3%) males and 23 (76.7%) females in Group 2 (P = 0.101). The recurrence rate was 0% in Group 1 and 3.3% (1 eye) in Group 2 (P = 1.00). Postoperatively, scleral whitening occurred in 6 (20%) eyes in Group 1 and none in Group 2 (P = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Both techniques, BSE alone or with conjunctival flap from the inferior bulbar conjunctiva 1 month after intrapterygial MMC, resulted in negligible (0%–3.3%) recurrence of pterygium. Conjunctival flap significantly reduced (0%) the postoperative complication of scleral whitening. This is the first report of efficacy of conjunctival flap in reducing scleral whitening after intrapterygial MMC.