TOPOGRAPHIC CHANGES AS PREDICTOR FOR DETERMINING ANTERIOR CORNEAL CURVATURE STABILIZATION POINT SUBSEQUENT TO PTERYGIUM EXCISION USING CONTROLLED PARTIAL AVULSION FIBRIN GLUE TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Introduction: This paper aimed to determine the corneal stabilization point utilizing corneal topographic approach subsequent to pterygium excision using controlled partial avulsion fibrin glue technique. Methods: Ninety-three eyes of 93 patients who had undergone primary pterygium excision surgery were retrospectively reviewed. Topographic changes were determined by having four (4) follow-up sessions (at 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th, and 12^th month post-surgical based on changes in Simulated-K (SimK). The parameter studied was the degree magnitude of astigmatism measured by Zeiss ATLAS 995 corneal topographer. Three measurements were taken and the measurement with the best image quality was taken as the measurement value. These measurements were done by single operator and performed on the same visit. All participants then undergo pterygium excision performed by a consultant ophthalmologist (KMK). RM-ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc analysis were employed to evaluate the difference between sessions with SimK. Results: Topographic changes revealed corneal stabilization point at 3^rd month post-operatively. Significance improvements for corneal astigmatism was noted for the 1^st and the 3^rd months (both P < 0.001), followed by insignificant changes towards the remaining 6^th and 12^th months visits (both P > 0.05). Conclusions: Anterior corneal curvature stabilization point at 3^rd months of post-surgical procedure. Thus we suggest other refractive procedures are safe to be performed after the 3^rd month of pterygium excision.