MANAGING PTERYGIUM BY EXCISION AND LOW DOSE MITOMYCIN-C EYE DROPS

Background: pterygium is a common eye disease with a high recurrence rate after excision. the aim of this study was to compare the results of simple excision and excision followed by instillation of low dosemitomycin-c eye drops. material & methods: this was a prospective study conducted in department of ophthalmology, dhq teaching hospital, d.i.khan, from 1st august 2004 to 31st july 2005. patients with pterygia attending the out patient clinic were randomly assigned to two groups. group-1 included 50 patients with 40 primary and 10 recurrent pterygia. group-2 included 50 patients with 38 primary and 12 recurrent pterygia. patients in group-1 were treated by simple excision with bare sclera and cautery (king’s method) while those in group- 2 were treated by the same procedure but they were given 0.02% mitomycin-c eye drops thrice a day for two weeks. they were followed for six months and recurrence or any complication was noted. results: in group-1, 15(30%) cases recurred. out of these 11(27.5%) were primary while 4(40%) recurrent pterygia. in group-2, 2(4%) cases recurred. none of the primary pterygia, while 2(16.7%) recurrent pterygia recurred. in group-1, 2(4%) cases of granuloma formation and 1(2%) case of conjunctival cyst was noted, while in group-2, 1(2%) each of scleral necrosis and chronic corneal ulcer were noted. conclusion: pterygium excision followed by instillation of 0.02% mitomycin-c eye drops thrice a day for two weeks, is a better and safe method of treatment