terrible pterygium removal surgery

[alina232]

Hi,
My fiance had a pterygium surgery about six weeks ago. We were mislead by the doctor who said it will be very simple and get rid of the redness. The pain he had in his eye after the surgery was terrible, his vision became worst then before, and the eye is very very red, alot more then before. We are very frastrated because the reason he did this surgery was cosmetic and now the way his eye looks is very bad. it looks like he has blood in his eye. The doctor saw him 4-5 times after surgery and everytime he says it looks very good. In the last appointment, when we said we wont opperate the other eye, he told us that it will always stay red. He never said that before, especially in the first appointment when he said he will get rid of the redness. Any suggestions?

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

All the healing should be complete by six months at the latest.  Hang in there.  I'm not sure why his vision would be worse; that part doesn't make much sense.  Ask the surgeon about why that is the case.  Using a graft with glue is one of the more standard surgeries for pterygium removal.

HV

[alina232]

Thank you very much for the reply. He used the surgery with the glue. The reason for the surgery was cosmetic, and the doctor told us it will look great after the surgery. Now also his vision became worse than before in this eye. when you say it could get better eventually, how long could it take? It's been two mOnths since the surgery and the eye looks terrible.

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

Severe pain is normal after this surgery and there is no way to avoid that really.  We usually recommend surgery when the pterygium is causing severe irritation or is affecting vision because the cosmetic results aren't always perfect (although it should eventually get better than it was before the surgery).  You need to find out if there was a graft used during the surgery and if the doctor used Mitomycin during the case.  Also, you may want to discuss the possibility that an injection may reduce the redness (can't discuss this with you online as it is an off label use of an injectable medication and needs to be discussed with you surgeon on an individual basis.

HV