DSAEK is a partial thickness cornea transplant procedure that involves selective removal of the patient’s Descemet membrane and endothelium, followed by transplantation of donor corneal endothelium additionally to donor corneal stroma. The transplanted tissue is approximately 100-200 microns thick. If the endothelium of the graft makes contact with any surgical instruments, it’ll be damaged and also the graft may fail; therefore, the surgical operation is intended to avoid contacting the donor endothelium.
DSAEK has revolutionized the way we think about corneal transplants. DSAEK is the newer, less invasive way of performing a corneal transplant. It involves a far smaller incision and quite few sutures. Recovery time is significantly reduced and your visual potential is reached far more quickly as compared to the standard penetrating keratoplasty. This surgery is an outpatient procedure. It takes approximately 45 minutes to finish . You return home the same day with a patch and shield over the eye and follow up subsequent day within the office.
DSAEK Surgery Procedure
Before your surgery, testing and measurements of your eye are going to be performed. Your surgeon will explain the post-operative care and can address the other questions you would possibly have about DSAEK. Antibiotics and other eye drops are advice to use, before and after your surgery to assist in preventing infection and inflammation, and it’s important not to eat anything after midnight on the night before your procedure.
The surgery is performed under mild sedation. Numbing medication is additionally used so there’s little or no discomfort. Using sophisticated instrumentation adapted from LASIK procedures, the donor cornea is ready and placed within the recipient’s eye. This new graft is then supported by an air bubble that presses against the recipient’s cornea while the patient is comfortably lying on their back. The bubble takes the place of sutures and is merely necessary for a brief period of your time after completion of the surgery.
Vision After DSAEK
Your vision isn’t expected to be improved immediately; if truth be told, it’s usually worse on your first post-op day. there’s usually minimal pain after surgery, some light sensitivity and scratchiness are common. Visual recovery varies on the severity of your corneal cloudiness before surgery. Most patients notice an improvement in their vision during the first fortnight after surgery with continued improvement during following four to six weeks. This is often faster than the various months and sometimes years of rehabilitation needed after a standard transplant.
Post-operative visits are scheduled for one day, one week, and one month after the procedure, then monthly counting on the patient’s progress.
• You will usually be ready to resume most activities 2 days after surgery
• Eye makeup is allowed at 1 week and swimming at 4 weeks after surgery
• Exercise like treadmill, or walking are permitted at 1 week
• Jogging or weight lifting should be avoided for 3 to 4 weeks
You will likely have a change in your eyeglass prescription at some point after the surgery.