Role of Surgeon Experience in Pterygium Surgical Outcomes: A Comparative Study Between Ophthalmology Resident and Consultant

Purpose Although surgical technique and patient variables are responsible for the recurrence of pterygium, the surgeon's experience has been sparsely studied. This retrospective study was designed to compare the surgical time, complications, and rates of recurrence after primary pterygium excision between consultant ophthalmologists and trainee residents. Material and methods In this retrospective study, we collected the data of 176 primary pterygium eyes, who were operated on with excision and sutureless/glueless conjunctival autograft either by the consultant (group A) or by the trainee (group B). The demographic profile, surgical time, complications, and recurrences between both groups were analyzed. Results Both the groups were comparable with regards to age, gender, religion, side of the eye, size of the pterygium, and duration of follow-up. The mean operative time was longer in group B (26.5+/-3.8 minutes) than group A (14.2+/-1.6 minutes). Though a relatively higher percentage of complications was observed in group B (12% vs. 9%), the difference was statistically not significant (Mann-Whitney U test, p-value 0.271). There was no statically significant difference in recurrence rate (6.8% vs 9.4%) between the groups. Conclusion With regards to the role of surgeon experience in primary pterygium excision using the sutureless and glueless conjunctival autografting technique, the residents did not have any statistically significant differences in their postoperative complications and recurrence rates. However, the surgical time was significantly higher in the resident group owing to the learning curve.