Abstract
Purpose :
Pterygium surgery (PS) is an elective procedure with several indications, including ocular cosmesis. As measurements of patient satisfaction become increasingly prevalent, we sought to quantify patients’ satisfaction with PS.
Methods :
This is a prospective longitudinal study measuring subjects’ satisfaction with PS. Forty three patients undergoing PS at the Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School were enrolled to take pre-operative (pre-op) and post-operative (post-op) surveys. Surveys included measurements of subjects’ pre-op, post-op, and expected ocular comfort, ocular cosmesis, visual acuity, quality of life (QOL), and satisfaction. Inclusion criteria were being over 18 years old and pre-determined to undergo pterygium surgery. Exclusion criteria included having conditions that may alter perception of satisfaction, including depression. Validated scales were used for all measurements. Comparisons were made with paired, 2-tailed t-tests in Microsoft Excel; α=0.05.
Results :
Follow up was obtained for 36/43 (84%) patients (mean ± standard deviation [SD] age: 50 ± 14 years) at mean ± SD 155 ± 142 days after surgery. 18 (50%) reported family history of pterygium. The most important aspect of PS was vision (77%), comfort (14%), cosmesis (3%), and undecided (6%). Compared to pre-op levels, post-op comfort rose significantly (P=0.0000043), cosmesis rose significantly (P=0.00018), and QOL remained unchanged (P=0.20). Post-operatively, 51%, 43%, and 29% of patients met or exceeded their expected pre-op comfort, cosmesis, and QOL improvements, respectively. Subjects reported high levels of satisfaction with (1=unsatisfied, 9=satisfied): surgery overall (8.2 ± 1.6), comfort (7.9 ± 2.0), cosmesis (7.9 ± 2.0), and vision (8.1 ± 1.6). 36/36 (100%) subjects would recommend PS to a friend.
Conclusions :
Subjects were overwhelmingly satisfied with their PS. Reported levels of comfort and cosmesis rose after PS, but not to the degree subjects expected pre-operatively; subjects reported high levels of satisfaction with these elements regardless.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.