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Cornea transplantation in India
Cornea transplantation in India also known as keratoplasty and this is usually recommended to those people who are unable to see the beauty of the world because of damage to the cornea. The causes due to which cornea gets damaged can be because of scarring, injury or certain inherited conditions, etc. and the result is that the light will not enter the eye for proper vision.
By corneal transplant surgery, you can expect that the surgeons at the hospitals under We Care India will transplant the damaged cornea in the eye with healthy tissue. Your surgeon will take the corneal graft either from all or selected layers of the donor. The complete replacement of cornea will depend upon the extent of damage, or your surgeon will transplant a few layers of the cornea. The recovery after the corneal transplant surgery will depend on whether your surgeon has to replace the entire cornea or just a few layers that need to be transplanted.
After corneal transplant surgery, some patients may experience a few side effects and this mainly depends on the number of layers that have been replaced. Side effects such as scarring, retinal detachment, vision problems, bleeding, and infection, etc. are some of the complications associated with a Cornea transplantation in India.
When your eye surgeon will recommend having a cornea transplant?
According to the study, people who have healthy and clear cornea have a good vision. If the damage of cornea occurs due to eye disease or other eye injuries, it becomes swollen, scarred or severely misshapen and it will destroy your vision.
Your eye surgeon will recommend having a cornea transplant when eyeglasses or contact lenses are failed to restore your vision or if you did not get relief from painful swelling by medications or special contact lenses.
The following are some conditions that can affect the clarity of your cornea and this can put you at a higher risk of corneal failure. This includes the following:
- Scarring occurs due to infections.
- Complications occur from LASIK surgery which can be rare.
- Excessive swelling of the cornea.
- When the cornea is thin or it has an irregular shape.
- When there is any damage from an eye injury or chemical burns of the cornea.
- When the corneal gets failed due to the complications with cataract surgery.
- When there was a graft rejection follow with the previous corneal transplant.
What happens during the corneal transplant procedure?
While performing the corneal transplant in India your eye surgeon will first give the local or general anesthesia which depends on your age, health, eye injury or eye disease, etc.
If your surgeon has given the local anesthesia then they inject an injection into the skin which is around your eye so that your eye muscles can be relaxed and it will control the blinking and eye movements. Your eye surgeon will then put some eye drops which help to numb your eye. When the procedure is performed you will be awake during the entire procedure and it has been found that people do not experience any discomfort.
When the effect of anesthesia has taken off, after that your eye surgeon will use an instrument called a lid speculum which helps to keep your eyelids open. This allows your surgeon to measure the affected corneal area and to identify the exact size of the donor tissue which is required for a corneal transplant.
Your eye surgeon will perform corneal transplant using two methods and these are as follows:
- a) Penetrating keratoplasty: When your eye surgeon will perform penetrating keratoplasty surgery in this they will remove a circular button-shaped, full-thickness section of tissue from the diseased or injured cornea by using a surgical cutting instrument known as a femtosecond laser.
After that, they will find a matched button from the donor tissue and will stitch into place. The stitches remain in place for at least one year or it can be more after surgery.
Your surgeon will place a plastic shield over your eye which protects your eye during its healing period.
This procedure usually completed in one to two hours and is performed on an outpatient basis which means you can return to your home in a short while after the surgery.
- b) Endothelial keratoplasty: This is the latest and advanced version of corneal transplant in which your eye surgeon will replace the selectively innermost layer of the cornea and leaves the overlying healthy corneal tissue intact. Endothelial keratoplasty is a procedure that controls the fluid balance in your cornea, and if it becomes damaged or diseased then it will cause corneal swelling and total vision loss.
While performing the endothelial keratoplasty your eye surgeon will make a very small incision and they will place a thin disc of donor tissue which is containing a healthy endothelial cell layer and this is located on the back of your cornea. Your eye surgeon at the hospitals under We Care India will make use of an air bubble which helps in positioning the new endothelial layer into place. The small incision which is made by your eye surgeon will heal itself and there is no need of stitches.
What is an average Cornea Transplant Cost in India?
The estimated Cornea Transplant Cost in India at the hospitals under We Care India starts from USD 3,000 per eye which is quite significant as compared to the other developed western countries. Apart from the low cost of corneal transplant the eye surgeons at these hospitals use state of the art technologies and offer world-class service which gives the patient the best possible outcome. We have highly qualified and trained eye surgeons and their main aim to offer reasonable cost is that they wish each individual will enjoy the beauty of the world and they give their best to protect their vision. This is the reason that people across the globe travel to India for their corneal transplants in India and these numbers are increasing rapidly every year.
