The cornea is a dome-shaped, transparent layer at the front of the eye. It helps focus light that enters the eye and acts as a barrier against germs and dirt. To ensure proper vision, the cornea must be clear, smooth, and healthy. When the cornea is swollen, damaged, weak, or infected by a virus or bacteria, the vision becomes blurred, you see a glare, or it can even lead to loss of eyesight. While most corneal problems can be healed or repaired, the ophthalmologist may recommend a transplant when the diseased cornea cannot be cured or all treatments have failed. Read on to learn more about corneal transplant surgery.
What Is Corneal Transplant Surgery?
Over 24,783 corneal transplant surgeries in India were performed between 2021 and 2022. As the name suggests, corneal transplant surgery replaces the diseased organ with a healthy cornea from a human donor. The procedure is also called corneal grafting or keratoplasty. The physician may recommend a transplant for patients with congenital diseases like corneal dystrophy, keratoconus, dry eyes, keratitis, corneal ulcers, corneal damage caused by earlier eye surgery, or damage to the cornea due to an injury, inflammation, or infections like ocular herpes or trachoma.
Corneal transplant surgery is not fairly common in India because of a lack of eye donors. However, the country is considered one of the best destinations for corneal transplant surgery because of its pool of skilled ophthalmologists and advanced eye hospitals. Calwin Hospitals is among the eye hospitals in Nagercoil that provide corneal transplant surgery for patients with diseased corneas.
What Happens During A Cornea Transplant Surgery Procedure?
There are three types of corneal transplant surgery procedures: penetrating keratoplasty, endothelial keratoplasty, and anterior lamellar keratoplasty. If patients are not eligible for a transplant through a human donor, the physician may suggest an artificial cornea transplant, also called keratoprosthesis.
Penetrating Keratoplasty
This procedure involves cutting through the entire thickness of the diseased or damaged cornea to remove a small disk of the corneal tissue. The physician then cuts the donor cornea to ensure it’s the same size as the removed tissue before placing it on the opening. The healthy cornea is then stitched to ensure it stays in place. The stitches are then removed during a later visit.
Endothelial Keratoplasty
This procedure involves removing diseased endothelial tissue and replacing it with healthy donor tissue. There are two types of Endothelial Keratoplasty procedures: DSEK, or Descemet Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty, and DMEK, or Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.
Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty
This procedure involves removing diseased tissue from the front corneal layers and replacing it with healthy donor tissue. Depending on the depth of the corneal tissue damage, there are two types of lamellar keratoplasty: Superficial Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty (SALK) and Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty.
How Much Does a Corneal Transplant Surgery Cost?
The cost of a corneal transplant surgery ranges from INR 1,00,000 to INR 2,00,000, depending on the location of the eye hospital, its reputation, facilities and advanced techniques used by the hospital, and the skills of the physician performing the surgery.
Cornea Transplant Surgery Recovery Time
Depending on the procedure and the patient’s age and medical history, the recovery time from cornea transplant surgery can range from several weeks to several months. In some cases, it takes around one year to heal post-surgery. The exterior layer of the cornea takes time to heal completely.
Getting cornea transplant surgery in a highly equipped hospital will increase the chance of success and speed up recovery. Calwin Hospitals is the finest eye hospital in Nagercoil, offering advanced vision correction procedures and surgeries with skilled doctors.
What Are Some Common Corneal Transplant Surgery Risks?
While corneal transplant surgery is relatively safe, it does carry some severe complications, including eye infection, glaucoma, bleeding, swelling, and the body rejecting the donor cornea. If the latter happens, patients may experience sensitivity to light, redness in the eyes, eye pain, and even loss of vision. In such cases, they must contact the eye hospital immediately. Some cornea transplant surgery risks that can happen after years of surgery are graft dislocation, graft failure, Pupillary block glaucoma, astigmatism and lens expulsion.
After the surgery, consult your ophthalmologist immediately if you notice any signs of red eye, sensitivity to light (photophobia), or vision problems, particularly foggy or clouded vision or eye pain.
Checking your eyes in a regular pattern is essential to promote good eye health. Be aware of the symptoms and signs that your eyes show. Ensure your eyes are regularly checked at the best eye hospitals in Nagercoil.
Cornea Transplant Surgery Success Rate
The success rate of cornea transplant surgery is relatively high—about 90%—but it purely depends on the aftercare routine followed by the patient and transplant rejection. Corneal transplant surgery is the most common surgery in the world, dating back 110 years. It has a high success rate compared to other tissue transplant surgeries. Calwin Hospitals in Nagercoil equips advanced corneal transplantation services to treat people with damaged corneas. The ophthalmologist and staff provide guidance and support and hold their hands throughout the process.
Follow-Up Care After Corneal Transplant Surgery
The surgery is done one eye at a time and lasts for around 2 hours. You will be provided with complete instructions about precautions after the surgery. This includes taking eye drops to prevent infection and swelling and medicines to suppress immunity and prevent chances of corneal rejection.
You must wear glasses or shields to protect your eyes from dust and injury. The doctor may also suggest lying on your back to ensure the replaced tissues stay in place. It would help if you also avoided heavy physical activities, including intense exercises. Don’t rub or press the eyes. You must also not miss your regular checkups.
The doctor may also recommend post-op procedures to correct astigmatism and other vision problems like nearsightedness and farsightedness. You may also have to wear glasses or contact lenses or undergo laser eye surgery. Whether you are looking for the best corneal transplant surgeon in Nagercoil, schedule an appointment at Calwin Hospitals. You can have online consultations with doctors and sort out your queries.
How To Choose the Best Eye Hospital for Corneal Transplant Surgery?
When choosing a hospital for cornea transplant surgery, look for hospitals using advanced techniques like robotic or computer-assisted procedures. Evaluate the surgeon’s expertise, experience, success rate, and patient reviews. Visit Calwin Hospitals if you are looking for cornea transplant surgery in Nagercoil. We are a multispecialty hospital in Nagercoil with state-of-the-art facilities and dedicated cardiology, pulmonology, and ophthalmology departments. We believe in delivering high standards of healthcare and impeccable service. Contact us to learn more about corneal transplant surgery in Nagercoil. We are a multispecialty hospital in Nagercoil with dedicated cardiology, pulmonology, and ophthalmology departments. We believe in delivering high standards of healthcare and impeccable service. Contact us to learn more about corneal transplant surgery in Nagercoil.