Pterygium surgery using the principle of contact inhibition and a limbal transplanted pedicle conjunctival strip.

We have devised a new type of pterygium surgery, based on the principle of biological contact inhibition, involving the use of a 0.5-millimeter-wide pedicle autoconjunctival strip placed at the corneal limbus. Over a period of 2 years, the procedure has been performed in 56 eyes of 52 patients, 39 to 74 years old (mean, 57 +/- 9 years), with primary pterygium. After an average follow up of 34 +/- 6 months (range, 20 to 40 months), the pterygium recurred in six (10.7%) of the 56 eyes. There were no other significant postoperative complications. Although our method has the disadvantages of being somewhat complicated and involving a fair amount of suturing, the relatively low rate of recurrence achieved is encouraging.