Sutureless Glueless Conjunctival Autograft for Primary Pterygium Surgery

Background: Pterygium is a fibrovascular growth of an abnormal conjunctival tissue that progressively encroaches the limbus and then onto the cornea invading its superficial layers. It is a common ophthalmic condition seen mostly in dry, dusty areas. Objective: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the sutureless glueless conjunctival autograft for primary pterygium surgery as regard technique, complications and success rate. Patients and methods: This prospective study included a total of 30 patients with primary nasal pterygium, attending at Outpatient Clinic of Ophthalmology Department, Al-Azhar University, Damietta. This study was conducted between March 2017 to March 2018. Results: When comparing post-operative values at the end of third month with the first month we have found no difference in corneal state for all patients. The patient with corneal opacity was as the first month and had no difference in corneal state or BCVA. We detected one patient (3.3%) having recurrent pterygium. Finally when comparing post-operative values at the sixth month with the third month, we have found another patient who was reported with recurrent pterygium. Thus, the recurrence rate was 2 patients (6.7%) among all studied patients and the other values were approximately the same. Conclusion: This study suggests that sutureless glueless conjunctival autograft technique is a safe, simple, easy of performance, has less surgical time and very effective for the management of primary pterygium.