What To Expect With Eye Removal Surgery (Enucleation)

Enucleation is the complete removal of the eye. eye removal Surgery is usually recommended when the eyeball is infected or cancerous and vision has been lost. It allows your doctor to completely remove infection or malignancy.

Enucleation may also be recommended in the event of severe eye injury. If your eye is very badly injured, bloodstream antigens can enter the eyeball and cause an immune reaction. If the damaged eyeball is not removed, this reaction could spread to the other eye and vision could be completely lost.

What Happens?

Eye removal surgery is usually performed under general anesthesia in a hospital setting. Although the surgery is quite involved and required the cutting of the optic nerve and half a dozen extraocular muscles, the resulting pain is surprisingly minimal. Some patients experience a headache for a full day after the surgery. Also, you will not be able to see immediately following the surgery.

You will be held for observation after surgery until your pain has become manageable and post-operative swelling has subsided. Then your doctor will send you home with pain meds and care instructions.

Most patients are able to go home after only a few hours. If there are complications, you might have to stay in hospital for a few days or even as long as two weeks. This is rare, though. If you are in good condition and all goes well, you should be in and out of the hospital within 24 hours.

After a series of follow-up visits, you can be fitted with an artificial eye. This usually happens within 6 week’s time.

Are There Risks Involved?

All surgical procedures involve risks, and eyeball removal is certainly no exception. Here are some of the risks you should know about:

* Hematoma: If you experience excessive bleeding following surgery, your surgeon may need to do a little more work to correct the problem.

* Infection: All surgery carries a risk of infection. Good hygiene and good after-care can go far toward preventing this. Prescription antibiotics can treat any infection that does occur.

What To Do Before The Procedure

If your surgery is the result of infection or cancer, you will probably have time to discuss your situation thoroughly with your care team. They will explain everything you should do and answer all of your questions.

Just as with any other surgery, there are precautions you should take:

1. Don’t eat or drink after midnight on the day of the surgery.

2. Let your doctor know if you have a fever or cough or any other signs and symptoms of illness.

3. Arrive at the hospital early so that you can take care of all necessary paperwork. This also gives your doctor an opportunity to examine you to make sure you are fit for surgery. It also helps the nurses and anesthesiologist make good preparations for your procedure.

When Will I Be Able To See?

Once the swelling around your eyes has gone down, you should be able to see with your “good” eye. You are sure to find that learning to live with one eye takes quite a bit of practice. Although you may experience some fatigue in your remaining eye at first, don’t despair. Remember to take breaks and rest your eye as needed. As time passes and you become more and more accustomed to mono-vision, your eye will become stronger and you will become able to function quite well.

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