Will pterygium "recur" after surgery? Don't panic!

Dr. Chen Xiangxi, deputy director of the Department of Ocular Surface and Cornea at Wuhan University Aier Eye Hospital (Wuhan Aier Eye Hospital Hubei General Hospital), explains "What is the cause of a "white film" growing in the corner of the eye?"

What is a pterygium?

Pterygium is a chronic inflammatory lesion caused by external stimuli. It is a piece of white flesh that grows from the corner of the eye and slowly progresses toward the pupil area in the center of the eye. It can occur in one or both eyes.

What are the dangers of pterygium?

1. The presence of pterygium not only affects the appearance, but also causes corneal astigmatism and leads to decreased vision.

2. After pterygium invades the cornea, it gradually grows larger. If it grows onto the black pupil, it will block the pupil and seriously affect vision or even cause blindness.

3. Pterygium is prone to recurrence, mainly due to factors such as surgery, environment, local immune abnormalities, and excessive proliferation ability (especially in young people).

Why is pterygium prone to recurrence?

Surgical reasons: Traditional simple pterygium surgery, prolonged exposure of the corneal and scleral wounds, delayed healing, induced scar repair of vascular fibrous tissue, and some even excessively damaged normal lacrimal caruncle and eyelid tissue, leading to complications such as postoperative blepharobulbar adhesion. Individual reasons: Young patients, a few patients with scar constitutions, and patients with ocular scarring pemphigoid are prone to recurrence after surgery. Environmental reasons: Long-term exposure to ultraviolet rays, wind and sand stimulation, etc. after surgery is not conducive to the health of the ocular surface and postoperative repair, causing recurrence.

How to effectively reduce the recurrence rate? Pterygium is prone to recurrence, and the surgical method is very important.

The "Jingzhi" pterygium surgery of the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University (Wuhan Aier Eye Hospital Hubei General Hospital) is based on individual differences of patients. It combines traditional pterygium excision with "one-person-one-style individualized" biological amniotic membrane transplantation. Compared with traditional procedures, it is more delicate, more comfortable, more beautiful, and has a lower recurrence rate. Pterygium surgery is afraid of recurrence, adhesion of eyelids and eyeballs, and damage to healthy conjunctiva. The "Jingzhi" pterygium surgery can solve these problems well.

Advantages of pterygium surgery

Director Wu Shangcao of the Ocular Surface and Cornea Department of the Aier Eye Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University (Wuhan Aier Eye Hospital Hubei Branch) kindly reminds you:

As long as pterygium affects vision, appearance or causes discomfort, it should be treated and never ignored. The longer pterygium grows, the more turbid it becomes, which can cause corneal deformation, affect vision, and have the risk of blindness. Even surgery is difficult to recover.