To determine the power vector and aberrations before and after surgery for pterygium using a corneal topographer and a wavefront aberrometer.

The study group consisted of 34 eyes of 31 patients with pterygium, and were divided into two groups by pterygium size (< 3 mm, group I ≥ 3 mm, group II). Power vector and wavefront aberrations were evaluated using a corneal topographer (Oculus inc., Germany) and a wavefront aberrometer (LADARWAVE®, Hartmann shack aberrometer, Alcon inc., US) at pre- and postoperative 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months.

The preoperative blurring strength (B) and high order aberrations significantly decreased at postoperative 3 months in all groups (P<0.05). Power vector scattergraphs showed the cluster of points gathered around the zero point in group I, but not in group II at postoperative month three. The change rates of high order aberrations were significantly greater in group I than in group II in the preoperative period compared to the postoperative first week period.

Improvements of the power vector and high order aberrations were more remarkable in group I (< 3 mm) than in group II (≥ 3 mm). To reduce aberrations and astigmatism effectively, we suggested surgical intervention in eyes with pterygia sized < 3.0 mm.