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, type 3 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, 42 eyes) 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 and 2, 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.