Anterior Segment
Inflamed Pterygium
Also known as: pterygium, inflamed pterygium, pterygium flare, nasal pterygium, inflamed nasal fibrovascular lesion, fibrovascular conjunctival lesion, surfer eye, UV pterygium
Filed as: Routine
Source-cited from the record's own evidence list. Clinical content programme led by Dr Ankit Mathur, PhD, Grad Cert Ocu Thera, B.S. Optom. How the clinical content is governed
Clinical decision support only
Overview
Inflammation of a pterygium: a UV-associated fibrovascular conjunctival lesion, usually nasal, that approaches or crosses the limbus onto the cornea. Uncomplicated flares are usually primary-care manageable with lubrication, environmental protection, and short-course anti-inflammatory treatment where appropriate. The key safety task is not to mistake suspicious limbal lesions, keratitis, uveitis, or scleritis for a benign inflamed pterygium.
Recognition
Symptoms: what patients report
- Foreign-body sensation, grittiness, or irritation over a visible nasal conjunctival growth.
- Localised redness around a known or newly recognised pterygium.
- Watering or mild burning, often worse with wind, dust, dryness, heat, or prolonged outdoor exposure.
- Recurrent inflammatory flares over months or years.
- Usually mild discomfort rather than severe pain.
- Vision is usually unchanged unless the lesion induces astigmatism or threatens the visual axis.
Signs: what the examination shows
- Triangular fibrovascular conjunctival lesion, usually nasal, with apex approaching or crossing the limbus onto the cornea.
- Localised conjunctival injection over the body of the pterygium during an inflammatory flare.
- Smooth, wing-shaped fibrovascular tissue rather than a leukoplakic, gelatinous, or irregular limbal mass.
- Possible tear-film disruption, dellen, or adjacent punctate staining from surface drying.
- Cornea should be clear apart from pterygium encroachment; there should be no stromal infiltrate.
- No anterior chamber cells or flare in uncomplicated disease.
What OptoGuide™ covers for inflamed pterygium
- Pattern reasoning: what this combination of findings points to, and its differentiators
- Don't-miss risks and escalation triggers
- Management tiers with linked Australian therapeutics
- Referral urgency, specialty, and letter drafting
Sources
- Pterygium — College of Optometrists CMG
- Anterior Eye Disease and Therapeutics A-Z (Bruce & Loughnan) — standard reference text
- Incidental Ocular Surface Squamous Neoplasia in Pterygia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Mihalache A, Huang RS, Balas M, et al. The British Journal of Ophthalmology. 2026;110(5):492-498.
- Anterior Segment Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography in Ocular Surface Tumors and Simulating Lesions and Correlation With Histopathologic Diagnosis. Gündüz AK, Mirzayev I, Ersöz CC, et al. Cornea. 2025;44(7):806-81
- Association Between Pterygium and Ocular, Periocular, and Systemic Inflammatory Conditions: A Large-Scale National Study. Lev Ari O, Kerman T, Eyni Y, et al. Cornea. 2025;44(4):450-454.
Standard texts: Kanski's Clinical Ophthalmology: A Systematic Approach, The Wills Eye Manual, Oxford Handbook of Ophthalmology, Oxford American Handbook of Ophthalmology, Signs in Ophthalmology: Causes & Differential Diagnosis.