Efficacy of Oral Doxycycline in Reducing the Size of Pterygium lesions

Abstract

Objective: To assess the efficacy of oral Doxycycline in reducing the size of pterygium lesions in a Pakistani population

Study Design: Quasi-experimental study.

Place and Duration of Study: Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology, Rawalpindi, from Sep 2018 and May 2019.

Methodology: Sixty patients above 20 years of age were enrolled in the study. Oral Doxycycline 200m/day was given for thirty consecutive days. Photographs of the lesions were taken at the time of recruitment and at the end of the study for assessment of pterygium size. Difference between pre-treatment and post-treatment size was analysed and comparison was made with age, gender and initial lesion size.

Results: Twenty-two females and thirty-eight males were examined. The mean age of the participants was 48.8 ± 13.8 years. The mean size of the pterygium lesions before commencing the treatment was 12.24 ± 6.28 mm2. The mean size of the lesions after the treatment was 11.24 ± 5.39 mm2. The mean difference size was 1.00 ± 1.62 mm2 (p <0.001). The relative change in size (i.e. post-treatment size divided by pre-treatment size) was 0.94 ± 0.09 which was found to be statistically significant (p<0.001). There was correlation between larger initial lesion size and greater relative reduction in size (r = -0.42, p = 0.001).

Conclusion: The change in the size of pterygium lesions produced by Doxycycline was found to be statistically significant but was not deemed clinically significant. Therefore, oral Doxycycline is not recommended for the treatment of pterygium in our population.