A Study of Astigmatic and Visual Acuity Changes following Pterygium Surgery with Conjunctival Auto Graft

Aim: The study was done to determine astigmatic and visual acuity changes following pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft. Methods: 100 patients who underwent pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft in Government Dharmapuri medical college were included in the study. Their preoperative visual acuity and keratomertic values were recorded and compared with the postoperative values at the end of third month. The surgical procedure done was pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft using autologous serum. Results: In the study it is found that pterygium causes with the rule astigmatism. There is reduction in keratometric and refractive astigmatism after pterygium excision and the amount of decrease in astigmatism correlated with the size of pterygium. There is also improvement in visual acuity after pterygium excision with autograft. Conclusion: In our study, it was observed that Pterygium causes with the rule astigmatism. The amount of induced keratometric astigmatism is directly proportional to the grade of pterygium. The study concludes that pterygium excision with auto conjunctival graft induces the reversal of the pterygium induced corneal flattening resulting in decrease of refractive astigmatism and significant improvement in visual acuity.