AIM To investigate the effect of modified Chufeng Yisun Decoction on ocular surface inflammation after pterygium surgery.METHODS This prospective study included 60 patients with primary pterygium who underwent monocular surgery in the Ophthalmology Department of Bozhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine between January 2023 and March 2023 were included. The patients were randomly divided into study group and control group by computer RAND function, with 30 cases in each group. In the control group, 30 patients were treated with pranoprofen eye drops, tobramycin dexamethasone eye drops, and deproteinized calf blood extract eye gel after the surgery. In the study group, 30 patients were treated by oral modified Chufeng Yisun Decoction in addition to the treatments in the control group for 1 week. The changes of ocular irritation symptoms, ocular inflammatory signs, tear IL-6 level, and tear ferning test of patients in the two groups were assessed. SPSS 21 software was used for statistical analysis, and GraphPad Prism 9 software was used for plotting the graphs.RESULTS Compared with 1 d and 2 d after the surgery, the OISS in patients of both groups was significantly lower at 1 week after the surgery (P < 0.05). The OISS was not significantly different between 1 d and 2 d after the surgery in the control group (P > 0.05), but was significantly lower on 2 d after the surgery than 1 d after the surgery in the study group (P < 0.05). The OISS in the study group was significantly lower than in the control group at 2 d and 1 week after the surgery (P < 0.05). The OSI and tear IL-6 level were significantly lower at 1 week after the surgery than 1 d after the surgery in both groups (P < 0.05), and the OSI and tear IL-6 level were also significantly lower in the study group than in the control group at 1 week after the surgery (P < 0.05). The TFT was better in the study group than in the control group at 1 week after the surgery (P < 0.05).CONCLUSION The modified Chufeng Yisun Decoction has a better effect on improving the ocular surface inflammation after pterygium surgery than the use of anti-inflammatory eye drops only.