Abstract

A pterygium is a triangular fibrovascular subepithelial outgrowth of degenerative bulbar conjunctival tissue that often crosses the limbus and extends on to the corneal surface. Impaired lid movement, pathological conjunctival, corneal, or eyelid changes in pterygium lead to disturbed functioning of tear film. The gold standard treatment is pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft due to its lower (1.9–8%) recurrence rate. This study aimed to see the tear film changes associated with pterygium surgery with conjunctival autograft procedure. Materials and methods: This comparative study was conducted on 66 diagnosed patients of pterygium enrolled after fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. They were subjected to the Tear breakup time (TBUT) test and Schirmer’s test with a pre-sterilized Whatman 41 filter paper. Pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft was done. TBUT, schirmer’s test was done at each follow up at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months. Results: Mean age of the patients was 57.95±12.41 years. 36 out of total 66 (54.54%) patients were males. The number of patients with deranged TBUT and schirmer’s test decreased drastically after pterygium surgery with conjunctival autograft and the number further reduced at each follow up visit. The patients had significantly higher TBUT values (p=0.0001) 1 month after pterygium surgery with conjunctival autograft as compared to the TBUT values before the surgery. The Schirmer’s test results changed insignificantly over the follow-up period of 1, 3 and 6 months. Conclusion: Abnormal tear film function is associated with development of pterygium. Pterygium excision improves tear film function, TBUT significantly, although the improvement in schirmer’s test is insignificant.

Description