Pterygium Surgeries at a Tertiary Hospital, Southwest Nigeria: A Four-Year Review

Background: Over the years several pterygium surgical techniques have been developed with the aim of having the least possible recurrence rate. This has been from bare sclera excision which had an unacceptable recurrence rate to the current use of conjunctiva autograft with or without various adjuncts. This study was to review the current practice in a typical multi-specialist ophthalmic department. Method: The ophthalmic theatre operating register was retrospectively reviewed to obtain information on all patients who had pterygium excision at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, over a 4-year period from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2017. Results: A total of 324 pterygium surgeries were performed and final analysis was on 249 (76.9%) surgeries which met the inclusion criteria, male to female ratio of 0.96:1. The commonest surgical technique was excision + 5-Flourouracil (5FU) + conjunctival autograft accounting for 187(75.1%) eyes. In total, postoperative recurrence was recorded in 40 (16.1%) eyes. The subgroup of excision + 5FU + autograft had the least recurrence rate of 18 (9.6%) eyes. Conclusion: A significant majority of the excision was with conjunctiva autograft with an acceptable low recurrence rate compared with most studies.