Excessive granulation tissue at the harvest site following pterygium surgery with conjunctival autograft: a clinicopathological case report

Abstract

A 31-year-old woman had an uneventful primary pterygium surgery with a conjunctival autograft. Four days following the surgery a red-violet-coloured lesion appeared at the bare autograft harvest site that was excised at postoperative 1 month leaving the autograft site bare again. The lesion recurred in a week. The excision was repeated but this time the sclera was closed by end-to-end suturation of conjunctiva. The lesion did not recur during the 3 months of follow up. Pathological examination revealed the lesion to be composed of granulation tissue composed of an overlying stratified epithelium and underlying marked vascularization, fibroblasts and lymphomonocyte cells. Excessive granulation tissue may form when there is a deviation in wound healing. Removal of the excessive granulation and restoration of the continuity of the surrounding epithelium should be curative.