Polyglactin sutures versus nylon sutures for suturing of conjunctival autograft in pterygium surgery: a randomized, controlled trial

Purpose: To compare the use of polyglactin sutures versus nylon sutures for conjunctival autograft suturing in pterygium surgery. Methods: A prospective, randomized, controlled, clinical trial was conducted, in which 32 eyes of 32 patients with primary nasal pterygium were randomized to undergo pterygium surgery with the use of nylon sutures or polyglactin sutures for conjunctival autograft suturing. Patients were followed up for 3 months. Outcome measures included postoperative discomfort according to a visual analogue scale (VAS), graft hyperaemia, graft oedema and tarsal conjunctival papillary reaction. Results: There was no significant difference in the postoperative discomfort as assessed by VAS in both groups at all follow-up visits. Patients who had polyglactin sutures for suturing conjunctival autograft were noted to have more tarsal conjunctival papillary reaction at day 1 (p = 0.01) and more graft hyperaemia at week 1 (p = 0.019) after the operation. At 4 weeks postoperatively, significantly more nylon sutures remained on the autograft (p = 0.021), some of which were buried and could not be removed. Conclusions: Both polyglactin and nylon are effective suture materials for autograft suturing in pterygium surgery and cause comparable postoperative discomfort. Polyglactin sutures resulted in slightly more conjunctival reaction in the early postoperative period compared with nylon sutures.