Systemic Absorption of Mitomycin-C When Used in Pterygium Surgery.

PURPOSE: To determine whether scleral topical application of mitomycin-C (MMC) results in measurable plasma levels of systemic absorption.

METHODS: The study comprised 27 patients who were treated with MMC 0.2 mg/mL (0.02%) for 60 seconds during pterygium surgery. Blood samples were taken 30 minutes after surgery and evaluated by the human plasma liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry method to determine the presence of MMC.

RESULTS: The amount of MMC in 27 samples tested was determined as below 0.25 ppb (ng/mL).

CONCLUSIONS: In this study of 27 patients treated with topical application of MMC for pterygium surgery, there was no measurable evidence of systemic drug absorption. Although systemic absorption has been found with the use of larger quantities of MMC, there is an extremely low likelihood of systemic absorption or toxicity of MMC after pterygium surgery.