Clinical Outcomes of Sutured Versus Sutureless Conjunctival Autograft in Primary Pterygium Excision

December 13, 2024 updated by: Amal Sherif Sayed Abdelrehim, Assiut University

The goal of this study is to find out if a certain technique in pterygium excision surgery ,using no sutures, is better than the technique mostly used ,which uses sutures.

Investigators aim to find out whether the no sutures technique provides better efficiency and patient satisfaction than the traditional approach. They predict that if this study provides evidence of the advantages of this technique over the one used, surgeons would be encouraged to use it instead. Because not only would the patient benefit, the surgeon also may save operative time and effort used in the technique which uses sutures.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

This study is a comparative interventional study, in which patients are assigned into two groups comparable in age, gender, and general condition. The first group consists of patients with primary pterygium who will undergo surgery in a traditional approach in which the pterygium is surgically removed and after which a conjuctival graft is placed on the exposed sclera and sutured to the surrounding conjuctiva; in comparison, patients of the second group undergo pterygium excision in a similar matter initially.But the conjuctival graft is placed on the exposed sclera without suturing it to the nearby conjuctiva; instead, the graft remains in place using the patient's autologous blood. Fresh blood is left under the graft, while the surgeon merely compresses the graft for a few minutes. The aim of this study is to reach a conclusion as to which technique is more beneficial, to the patient and surgeon.

Patients included in this study must have primary pterygium, no known hematological condition, and full consent to the study. Surgery time is recorded to compare the effect of avoiding sutures on the surgeon's speed. After that, Patients are followed up in documented certain intervals post-operative, to assess graft displacement, signs of inflammation, signs of bleeding under graft, and patients' overall discomfort and satisfaction.

Finally, the two groups are compared with all factors taken into consideration. The ultimate target is to document evidence of the efficiency of the sutureless technique and endorse its application by Ophthalmologists elsewhere.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

70

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

      • Assiut, Egypt
        • Ophthalmology department Assiut university
        • Contact:
      • Assiut, Egypt
        • Ophthalmology department, Assiut University hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged between 18-60 years old.
  • Patients diagnosed with primary Pterygium (Grades 1-4)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients unable to offer viable consent
  • Patients with other significant ocular surface diseases, bleeding disorders, or systemic conditions affecting wound healing.)
  • Recurrent pterygium
  • Combined ocular surgery

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: pterygium excision using sutured technique
This represents the main used technique in pterygium surgery that we will compare the less familiar sutureless technique to. pterygium is surgically removed and conjuctival graft is placed using sutures
Studies have concluded that pterygium surgical excision is the main treatment for pterygium. Pterygium excision with superior graft is the procedure followed most commonly at present. This is achieved by many methods, with the result differing from one method to another. The most important difference is the incidence of recurrence(4)But Varioustechniques such as Bare Sclera, Rotational Conjunctival Flap, Limbal Conjunctival Autograft, Amniotic Membrane Graft, and Free Conjunctival Autograft are also used for the removal of pterygium(3 ,4)Of the various possible alternative approaches, conjunctival autograft is usually preferred. Diverse methods for grafting with sutures, glue or autologous serum from the recipient bed are in use (5,6). Many adjunctive therapies like mitomycin C, corticosteroids, thiotepa, interferon-alpha- 2b, beta irradiation, 5-FU are being used to decrease the risk of recurrence after surgical removal of pterygium.
pterygium is surgically removed, and a conjuctival graft is placed on bare sclera using sutures to surrounding conjuctiva.
Active Comparator: sutureless technique
this represents the experimented technique in which pterygium excision is done and the graft is placed sutureless.
Studies have concluded that pterygium surgical excision is the main treatment for pterygium. Pterygium excision with superior graft is the procedure followed most commonly at present. This is achieved by many methods, with the result differing from one method to another. The most important difference is the incidence of recurrence(4)But Varioustechniques such as Bare Sclera, Rotational Conjunctival Flap, Limbal Conjunctival Autograft, Amniotic Membrane Graft, and Free Conjunctival Autograft are also used for the removal of pterygium(3 ,4)Of the various possible alternative approaches, conjunctival autograft is usually preferred. Diverse methods for grafting with sutures, glue or autologous serum from the recipient bed are in use (5,6). Many adjunctive therapies like mitomycin C, corticosteroids, thiotepa, interferon-alpha- 2b, beta irradiation, 5-FU are being used to decrease the risk of recurrence after surgical removal of pterygium.
pterygium is surgically removed and a conjuctival graft is placed on bare sclera on which the patient's blood remains. the graft is left without sutures, adhering only by autologous blood.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
to evaluate the rate of conjuctival graft displacement in pterygium excision and graft placement without sutures
Time Frame: 3 months
the most valuable aim in this comparative study is to document if the graft placed sutureless will remain in place.So, in each follow-up, graft is assessed in regards to placement.
3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

December 15, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 20, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 17, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 13, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 13, 2024

Last Verified

December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Pterygium

Subscribe