To evaluate the the effects of 0.3% hyaluronate sodium eye drops on ocular surface of pterygium patients after limbal conjunctival autograft transplantation.

Prospective, double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Sixty eyes of 60 patients diagnosed as primary pterygium were randomly divided into two groups with 30 eyes in each group. All received pterygium resection combined with limbal conjunctival autograft transplantation by the same doctor. After operation, patients in the control group were given 0.5% levofloxacin, 0.1% fluorometholone eye drops 4 times a day. For that in treatment group, 0.3% sodium hyaluronate eye drops were added 1 day postoperatively, four times a day for 1 month. The follow-up time was 1 month. The healing of epithelium, the scores of clinical symptoms, corneal sensation, non-invasive breakup time of tear film (BUT), non-invasive tear meniscus height (TMH), and confocal microscopy examination were done and recorded.

The scores of clinical symptoms at the 2, 3, 7 days after the surgery were lower in the treatment group than that in the control group(P<0.05). the rates of epithelium healing area in treatment group was higher than that in control group at 1, 2, 3 days after the surgery(P>0.05). At day 2, the eyes with intact epithelium in treatment group was 17(57%), compared with control group only 9(30%)(χ²=4.344, P=0.037). TMH & BUT: at 14 and 28 days postoperatively, the TMH in the treatment group were higher than that in the control group( P<0.05); at 7, 14, and 28 days after surgery, the BUT in the treatment group were higher than that in the control group(P>0.05). Corneal sensation: at each time point, there was no statistically significant difference between two groups(P>0.05). Confocal microscopy: at 7 days postoperatively, the epithelia of the pterygium resection area were assembled tightly without edema or inflammation cells infiltration in the treatment group; however, in the control group, some of the epithelial cells were swollen with inflammation cells infiltration. The corneal epithelial cells density was higher in the treatment group compared with the control group(P<0.05).

0.3% hyaluronate sodium eye drops promote the healing of corneal epithelium, and significantly reduce the perioperative pain. Continual using 0.3% hyaluronate sodium eye drops could increase the TMH.

Pterygium; Excision; Eye drops, hyaluronate sodium; Wound healing