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 time frames mentioned above should be considered as very general.

Disorder and Surgery
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