What is Corneal Transplant?

In corneal transplantation procedure a diseased cornea is replaced by a healthy donor cornea. For this, one has to depend upon the donation of human eyes. The eyes are donated after death and the eye bank processed these human corneas before transplantation. Corneal transplantation is one of the most common and most successful transplantation procedures amongst all the other organ transplants. With the help of a corneal surgeon an individual needs to register one’s name to receive corneal tissue at the bank or with the hospital. On availability of a suitable tissue, the patients are intimated telephonically about the surgery. Before the surgery, a detailed eye examination is done by the consultant. Certain tests are performed and physical fitness and lab investigations are a must. As the tissue must be transplanted within a certain time limit, it is necessary that one should respond immediately on receiving the phone call. Surgery is generally done under local anesthesia, but few cases may require either general anesthesia or sleep including medications. Sometimes, along with the transplant other associated surgical procedures may be performed and/or you may require them in the post-operative period depending upon the recovery/progress. For example, a cataract may be removed and replaced with an intraocular lens(IOL). An IOL may be replaced or removed. The vitreous gel may be removed from the eye and replaced with fluid. A damaged iris may be repaired. One may have to stay in the hospital for a couple of days or stay at a local address for 1 week or so, as the initial few weeks are most crucial for the outcome.