Aim: To study the change in vision, corneal surface, and astigmatism following pterygium excision. Setting and Design: A prospective interventional study conducted at a tertiary care center in Western Vidarbha. Materials and Methods: A total of 125 patients with clinically diagnosed pterygium were included by universal sampling between October 2022 and April 2024, after ethical approval. Patients were admitted 1 day prior to surgery following informed consent. Preoperative and postoperative assessments included best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), keratometry, and astigmatism. All patients underwent pterygium excision with conjunctival autograft performed by a single surgeon. Follow-ups were done on day 7 and at 1, 2, and 3 months, with 3-month data analyzed using SPSS version 28. Pre-and postoperative values were compared using the Wilcoxon test, with P 50 years; 90 (72%) were males, and 87 (69.7%) were outdoor workers. Grades 2, 3, and 4 pterygium were seen in 76 (60.8%), 40 (32%), and 9 (7.2%) eyes, respectively. Preoperative BCVA of 6/12, 6/18, and 6/24 in 44.8%, 39.2%, and 10.4% improved to 6/6 in 87.2% and 6/9 in 8%. Preoperative mean k1/k2 values were 43.40/44.37 (Grade 2), 44.06/45.91 (Grade 3), and 44.64/47.76 (Grade 4), improving postoperatively to 42.97/43.33, 43.01/43.60, and 43.33/43.97, respectively. Mean astigmatism reduced from 0.90D → 0.37D, 2.62D → 0.84D, to 4.95D → 0.71D, respectively. Conclusion: Pterygium excision significantly improved vision, normalized corneal curvature, and reduced astigmatism, with outdoor exposure identified as a major risk factor.
Darade et al. (Wed,) studied this question.