The efficacy of dry AMG in pterygium surgery has been compared to the other standard techniques in many previous studies. Significant parameters for comparison include recurrence rate, time to recurrence, complications, and cosmesis.
A meta-analysis by Li et al34 showed that the recurrence rate of pterygium after primary excision was significantly lower with conjunctival autografting than with AMG. However, the recurrence rates were equal when these techniques were used for treatment of recurrent pterygia.34 In another study, it was concluded that recurrence rates of pterygia were significantly lower after limbal conjunctival autograft transplantation when compared to AMT.35 Yet another comparative study showed that while limbal conjunctival autograft and conjunctival autograft techniques were not significantly different from one another in terms of recurrence, both were significantly better in reducing recurrence rates than AMG.20 The technique of using a limbal conjunctival flap was also shown to be superior to AMT in terms of recurrence rate in one study by Kurna et al.36 Prabhasawat et al37 showed significantly higher recurrence rates for primary, recurrent, and all pterygia treated with AMG compared to conjunctival autografting, and the time to recurrence was delayed in conjunctival autograft transplantation when compared to AMT.
Despite a body of evidence suggesting that the recurrence rate after the use of AMG is higher than the aforementioned techniques, there is also evidence that suggests that the use of AM is at least equivalent. For example, in a study by Ma et al,38 the use of AM was compared retrospectively to the use of both conjunctival autograft and topical mitomycin C. The study showed the recurrence rate of AMT to be 3.8%, compared to 5.4% and 3.7% in the conjunctival autograft and topical mitomycin C groups, respectively. The time to recurrence was found to be 12.3 months in the AM group, compared to 3 and 5.5 months in the conjunctival autograft and topical mitomycin C groups, respectively. The study showed no significant difference in either the recurrence rate or the time to recurrence in any of the three groups.38 In another study, AMT was retrospectively compared to conjunctival autograft transplantation. This study found a recurrence rate of 25% in the conjunctival autograft group and a 35% recurrence rate in the AMT group, though statistically, this was not a significant difference.39 In the same study, the mean time to recurrence was significantly shorter for the conjunctival autograft group than for the AM group, at 2.3±0.9 and 3.2±1.0 months, respectively.39