AIM: To assess changes of tear film function in patients after pterygium excision combined with amniotic membrane transplantation.

METHODS:Totally 126 patients with pterygium excision with amniotic membrane transplantation from January 2011 to November 2013 were entered in the study. The tear breakup time(BUT), the Schirmer I test(SⅠt)and tear ferning test(TFT)were elevated in the patients before and after pterygium excision combined with amniotic membrane transplantation. The examnation times were 1d before surgey, 1wk, 1, 2mo after surgery. Operation eyes were studied group, while opposite healthy eyes as control group.

RESULTS: Compared with the control group, BUT and TFT were significantly different in the eyes with pterygium(P<0.05); However, no obvious difference was detected in the results of SⅠt(P>0.05). The results of BUT and TFT at 1mo after surgery in study group were significantly better than 1wk(P<0.05), while no significant difference compared with 2mo(P>0.05); The tear film stability in the study group at 1wk after surgery was still inferior to the control group(P<0.05)and there was no significant difference at 1, 2mo after surgery(P all>0.05). SⅠt results did not differ between the different examination times(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION:Tear film stability was broken in the eyes with pterygium. Pterygium excision combined with amniotic membrane transplantation can obviously restore the tear film function into normal state, and the tear film function could reach steady-state 1mo after surgery.