Comparison of recurrence rate of Pterygium, Conjunctivalautograft versus Mitomycin-C adjuvant in pterygium surgery

Objective: mitomycin-c (mmc) and conjunctivalautograft (cag) are two well known adjuvants used during pterygium excision to decrease the risk of pterygium recurrence. this study was conducted to compare the recurrence rate of pterygium following intraoperative use of mitomycin-c and conjunctivalautograft. methodology: this randomized controlled trial was conducted at eye unit-i, bahawal victoria hospital, bahawalpur, from march 2010 to august 2010. one hundred and thirty patients participated in the study. they were randomized into two groups, one receiving intraoperative mitomycin-c (n=65) and the other group underwent conjunctivalautograft application (n=65). patients were followed monthly for six months, to see any signs of recurrence. frequency of recurrences in two groups was calculated and compared by using chi-square test. results were considered significant at a p-value < 0.05. results: there were ten recurrences in mitomycin-c group (15.3%) and only two recurrences in conjunctivalautograft group (3%) over a six months follow up period. there was a statistically significant difference in the recurrence rate between the two groups (p < 0.05).this implies that the conjunctivalautograft has a better outcome in terms of its success rate as compared to the mitomycin-c adjuvant. conclusion: in patients having visually significant pterygium, pterygium surgery with conjunctivalautograft application has a lower recurrence rate as compared to the mitomycin-c adjuvant.