WHAT IS INVOLVED
IN CORNEAL
TRANSPLANT SURGERY?
In the late 20th century eye surgery has reached
a remarkable level of efficiency, effectiveness and
relative comfort. Corneal transplant surgery is the
most successful of all transplant procedures, and
techniques are being improved constantly.
Either general or local anesthesia can be used in
this procedure and you may need to spend a night
or two in the hospital. You will need someone to
drive you home/and once there you will assume a quiet
lifestyle for several days. Most people experience
surprisingly little pain or discomfort following the surgery. Time off from
work will vary with individuals and the kind of work they do. Generally in
a sedentary job you should be back to work in a week or two.
The surgeon will use a high-tech instrument like
a "cookie cutter" called a trephine to
remove your distorted cornea and to cut out a similar "button" from
the donor cornea. He or she will then place the donor
cornea button in the round hole of your cornea and
stitch them together. This is all done while the surgeon looks through a surgical
microscope. The suture (thread) he/she uses is much finer than a human hair
and can easily be overlooked by the naked eye.
Bandages will usually be removed in one to two weeks
after the surgery but you will not see clearly at
that time. It will be a matter of several months
before your vision stabilizes and eyeglasses or contact
lenses can be prescribed. Individual cases vary a
great deal, therefore timeframes mentioned above
should be considered as very general.
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