Complications following Use of Intraoperative Mitomycin-C in Pterygium Surgery

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to evaluate the possible complications following the use of intraoperative mitomycin-C in patients undergoing surgery for primary pterygium. Hundred eyes of 88 patients with primary pterygium were operated upon using ''bare sclera technique''. Intraoperatively all the patients were applied freshly prepared mitomycin-C 0.02% (0.2 mg/ml) on the bare sclera for a period of 5 minutes, after which the eyes were thoroughly rinsed with a sterile balanced salt solution. Postoperatively, none of the patients recieved mitomycin-C eye drops. After a mean postoperative followup of 14 months, 4 eyes (4%) of 4 patients developed thinning of the sclera with visualization of the underlying uveal tissue. One eye (1%) developed extreme thinning of the sclera with ectasia of the underlying uveal tissue, requiring a scleral patch. Recurrence was seen in 2 eyes (2%) only. The study shows that although intraoperative mitomycin-C (0.02%) reduces the recurrence of pterygium, it leads to serious, cosmetically unacceptable and even sight-threatening complications.