Does topical bevacizumab prevent postoperative recurrence after pterygium surgery with conjunctival autografting?

AIM:To assess the effect of topical bevacizumab use on postoperative pterygium recurrence in eyes who underwent pterygium excision with limbal-conjunctival autograft transplantation(LCAT).METHODS:eighty-eight eyes of 88 patients with primary pterygium were included.Pterygia were graded preoperatively from type 1 to type 3(type 1 atrophic,type3 inflamed)according to the inflammatory status.The eyes were preoperatively randomized to receive topical steroid and antibiotic treatment(group 1,46 eyes)and additional topical bevacizumab(5 mg/mL;group 2,42eyes)in the postoperative period.All eyes underwent pterygium excision and LCAT.Medications were tapered and discontinued at one month.Postoperative complications and recurrence rates were recorded.RESULTS:The mean follow-up duration was 29.3±4.2mo(24-52mo)and 28.5±3.4(24-48mo)in group 1 and2,respectively(P】0.05).There were no statistically significant differences regarding the age or gender between groups(P】0.05).Also,the difference between groups with respect to pterygium type was not significant.During the follow-up period,recurrence developed in 2 eyes(4.3%)in group 1,whereas in one eye(2.4%)in group 2.No statistically significant difference between groups was found in recurrence rates(P】0.05).No re-operation for recurrence was necessary during the follow-up period in both groups.CONCLUSION:Topical bevacizumab seems to have no additonal effect on pterygium recurrence after LCAT.