Role of low dose mitomycin C in pterygium surgery.

Excision pterygium with bare sclera has an unacceptably high recurrence rate of 30 – 89 %. Different adjunctive treatments have been tried to reduce the recurrence. The use of postoperative beta irradiation leads to severe complications like scleral ulceration, infection and cataract; use of topical thiotepa causes depigmentation of lids. The use of mitomycin C eye drops (0.2 – 0.4 mg/ml) postoperatively has been related to serious ocular complications such as secondary glaucoma, corneal oedema, iritis, cataract and scleral infection (Cano et al, 1995). The use of conjunctival autograft also has a high recurrence rate between 5.3 – 39 % besides increased intra-operative time.