Comparison of fibrin tissue adhesive technique with vicryl suture technique in autograft pterygium surgery in patients with primary and recurrent pterygium

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the fibrin tissue adhesive technique with vicryl suture technique in autograft pterygium surgery.

Material and Methods: Seventy two patients (Group 1) who underwent autograft pterygium surgery with vicryl suture technique (Primary pterygium Group 1a, recurrent pterygium Group 1b) and 58 patients who underwent autograft pterygium surgery with fibrin tissue adhesive technique (Primary pterygium Group 2a, recurrent pterygium Group 2b) were included in this retrospective study. Duration of the surgery and complications were analyzed from the file records. Statistical analyses of the data were performed using the SPSS 20.0 software. Independent samples – t test was used for the comparisons between groups.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 47.04±5.70 years (ranging between 37-65) in Group 1 and 47.10±4.88 years (ranging between 38-57) in Group 2. There was not a statistically significant difference in terms of age between two groups (p=0.95). The mean duration of the surgery was 24.91±3.08 min, 25.60±2.20 min, 17.62±2.57 min, and 18.84±2.83 min in groups 1a, 1b, 2a and 2b, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in terms of the duration of the surgery between groups 1a and 1b (p=0.021), groups 2a and 2b (p=0.001), groups 1 and 2 (p<0.001). Recurrence pterygium was found to require more surgery time in both techniques. Postoperative recurrence was not observed in any of the patients.

Conclusion: Pterygium surgery with conjunctival autograft is a reliable surgical method with low recurrence rates. The duration of surgery in recurrent pterygium was found to be longer in both surgical techniques. It is concluded that autograft pterygium surgery with fibrin tissue adhesive is the preferred surgical method that shortens the duration of the surgery.