A pterygium is a very common ocular “wing-like” growth on the surface of the eye, that usually occurs on the inner or outer part of the white part of the eye called the conjunctiva and extends toward the cornea.

Most commonly pterygium occur in response to UV (ultraviolet light) or in simple terms sun exposure. They are more common in people who spend a lot of time outdoors, live in dry climates, or live close to the equator.

In most patients pterygium is asymptomatic, however some patients experience significant redness and irritation of the eye. As the pterygium continues to grow onto the cornea it erodes onto the superficial and deeper layers of the cornea and can cause the distortion in vision. Many people will also mention that it is cosmetically not appealing.

Distortion of corneal architecture and causing corneal irregularity called astigmatism. The larger the pterygium gets, the more corneal irregularity will happen.
A pterygium produces scarring of the cornea and disrupts the normal tear film environment and exacerbates dry eye due to more inflammation.
If the pterygium growth is very large and covers the pupil, vision could become complete blocked.

A pterygium is diagnosed based on clinical appearance and thus requires a complete eye exam for diagnosis.

• Observation.
• Use of sun UV protection.
• Inflamed pterygium can be treated with anti-inflammatory eye drops, lubricating eye drops and ointments.
• Surgery to excise the pterygium if indicated by an ophthalmologist.

Pterygium surgery is an outpatient surgery performed with local anesthetic with light sedation to the patient.

Removal of pterygium followed by application of the conjunctival graft taken from tissue under the upper eyelid. There are other tissue grafts available such as amniotic membrane graft (AMT) to cover the defect.

Usually no. We mostly use tissue glue to adhere the graft and no sutures are required.

The majority of patients do really well after surgery and do not experience any major issues after healing period is over. Although very rare, the recurrence of a pterygium can occur between 5-8% of patients. Infection, scarring, double vision are very uncommon.