Conjunctival Mini-flap Technique and Conjunctival Autotransplantation in Pterygium Surgery

Purpose: To compare postoperative recurrence rates between conjunctival autotransplant ation and the conjunctival mini-flap technique in pterygium surgery and to identify factors associated with postoperative recurrence. Methods: In a retrospective survey of patients who underwent pterygium surgery between March, 2001 and February, 2004 at Severance Hospital, 49 eyes with pterygium removed by the conjunctival mini-flap technique and 41 eyes that underwent pterygium removal surgery by the conjunctival autotransplantation technique were studied. Results: During the mean follow-up period of 8.79±3.9 months, recurrence of pterygium was observed in 3 of 49 eyes (7.1%) that received the conjunctival mini-flap technique. There were 9 recurrent cases out of 41 eyes (21.9%) that were treated by the conjunctival autotransplantation technique. There was no statistical significance between recurrence rate and age, sex, or previous operation in either of the respective surgical techniques. Conclusions: This study showed that the conjunctival mini-flap technique has a lower recurrence rate than the conjunctival autotransplantation technique. We also found that the conjunctival mini-flap technique is an effective and safe technique that does not generally cause serious complications.ope