Over a million patients in the United States have received successful corneal transplants since 1961, thanks to organ donors. Once an individual requests a corneal transplant, there is little to no wait, since cornea transplants are universal and do not depend on matching blood types.
Note: While Broberg Eye Care does not perform corneal transplants, we can diagnose cornea problems and refer you to a cornea specialist we trust. We do treat cornea problems that do not require surgery.
During your initial consultation, an eye doctor will perform a detailed exam to ensure your eye will respond well to a cornea transplant. Once candidacy has been confirmed, cornea donor tissue will be requested, and an appointment for your procedure will be scheduled. Your doctor will give you a list of instructions to help prepare for the procedure.
Before beginning the procedure, the doctor will give you a sedative to help you relax and will numb your eye with a local anesthetic. Using state-of-art technology, your doctor will carefully make a small circular incision to remove the unhealthy corneal tissue and resize the donor tissue to fit your eye. Finally, he or she will use very fine sutures to attach the healthy donor tissue.
A corneal transplant is performed as an outpatient procedure and takes approximately two to three hours to complete. In most cases, you can expect to go home the same day as the procedure. Before release, the doctor will monitor your recovery to ensure you are responding well to surgery.
