Abstract
Purpose :
The introduction of femtosecond laser has greatly improved the quality and speed of ophthalmological surgeries. We performed a retrospective study on consecutive cases who underwent primary pterygium excision surgery with conjunctival autograft via femtosecond-laser assistance, to report the recurrence and complications after femtosecond laser assisted pterygium surgery.
Methods :
The study included 266 sequential patients who underwent femtosecond laser-assisted pterygium surgery from September 2016 to August 2022. All patients with primary nasal and/or temporal pterygium were enrolled into the study. All patients underwent manual pterygium excision, followed by femtosecond laser (Femto LDV Z8) assistance to harvest superior conjunctival autograft. Recurrence was defined as appearance of secondary pterygium at the same location, following primary pterygium excision surgery. All complications from post-operative day 1 was recorded. All patients had follow-up records of at least 12 months.
Results :
266 eyes of 218 patients were enrolled. Mean age 62±5 months, with mean follow-up of 20±4 months, with 98% of patients having at least >12months follow-up. Mean femtosecond laser graft thickness was 69±4 microns. Mean visual acuity improvement of 10±2 letters. 2 patients (0.92%) required second pterygium excision surgery, all of which were nasal pterygiums (Confidence interval 0.002%-0.5% Fischer exact test). 5 patients (2.5%) experienced either dry eyes, corneal scarring, or appositional failure of glue.
Conclusions :
Primary pterygium excision with femtosecond laser-assisted conjunctival autograft results in low rates of recurrence and complications, and is a viable alternative to conventional pterygium surgery.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.