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Long-Term Discharge
Cornea Transplantation

If you are an outpatient, you will go home after a short stay in the recovery room. You should plan to have someone else drive you home. You may feel groggy from the anesthesia for as long as 24 hours after surgery, so be careful in your activities. An examination at the doctor’s office will be scheduled for the following day. During that appointment, your ophthalmologist will check your eye and tell you how to care for your new corneal transplant.

 
You will need to:

• Use the eye drops as prescribed
• Be careful not to rub or press on your eye
• Use over-the-counter pain medicine if necessary
• Continue normal daily activities except exercise
• Ask your doctor when you may begin driving
• Wear eyeglasses or an eye shield as advised by your doctor

Your ophthalmologist will decide when to remove the stitches, depending on the health of the eye and the rate of healing. Usually it takes at least several months before stitches are removed.

You must avoid a direct blow to the eye, and caution should be used in daily activities. For the first several days after surgery, three activities you should avoid include:

• Heavy lifting
• Bending your head below your waist
• Straining that requires you to hold your breath

Corneal transplants are rejected 5 percent to 30 percent of the time. The rejected cornea clouds and vision deteriorates. Most rejections, if treated promptly, may be stopped with minimal injury. To make sure your transplant is not being rejected, remember to watch for "RSVP" warning signs. They are:

• Redness. Your eye will be red for the first few weeks after surgery. However, you have a problem if the redness increases after you have been home from the hospital for awhile. To check, pull down your lower eyelid very gently, and look for increased redness on the white of the eye, especially around the cornea.
• Sensitivity to light. If your eye becomes more sensitive to the light than it has been and you have to squint to be comfortable, call the doctor.
• Vision change. If your vision gets cloudy or deteriorates, call your doctor.
• Persistent discomfort. Small, temporary twinges of pain are to be expected, but if your eye hurts or throbs steadily for more than a few hours, call the doctor.

If you have any warning signs of complication, do not wait! Contact your ophthalmologist immediately.

Other possible complications include:

• Infection
• Bleeding
• Swelling or detachment of the retina
• Glaucoma

All of these complications are treatable

You always will have to be aware of situations that could become a hazard to your new cornea. A rejection could happen at any time for the rest of your life. A corneal transplant can be repeated, usually with good results, but the overall rejection rates for repeated transplantations are higher than for the first time around.

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