Cauterized conjunctival autograft with and without mitomycin C in primary pterygium surgery

Aim To compare between the outcomes of cauterized conjunctival autograft (CA) with and without mitomycin C (MMC) in primary pterygium surgery. Patients and methods This prospective interventional comparative study included 50 eyes in 50 patients with primary pterygium. Patients were randomly assigned into two equal groups: group 1 underwent pterygium excision with cauterized CA fixation, and group 2 underwent pterygium excision with cauterized CA fixation and intraoperative application of 0.02% MMC for 3 min. All patients underwent a preoperative, first day, first week, first month, third month, and sixth month postoperative ophthalmic examination. Any intraoperative or postoperative complications were recorded. Primary outcomes were reported as incidence of recurrence and any major (sight threatening) complications. Secondary outcomes were reported as any minor complications. Results A total of 50 patients (28 males and 22 females, with male to female ratio 1 : 1.3) were included in this study. Complications encountered in our study included recurrence of pterygium, which occurred in one (4%) eye in group 1 and 0 eyes in group 2. Two (8%) eyes in group 1 versus one (4%) eye in group 2 showed subconjunctival hemorrhage, one (4%) eye in group 2 showed focal scleral thinning, and one (4%) eye in group 2 showed a corneal epithelial defect. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding the incidence of any complication (P>0.05). Conclusion Cauterized CA without MMC is a safe and effective procedure for the surgical treatment of primary pterygium. There was no added benefit to intraoperative MMC application.