How is Enucleation (eye removal) Done?
Removal of the eye is termed enucleation. There have been many variations of this technique over the past 150 years. Presently the surgery is usually done under general anesthesia with the patient deeply asleep.The eye is carfully prepared and the tissue on the surface of the eye (conjunctiva) is entered. All of the six muscles that move the eye are identified and retracted from the eye. The optic nerve is then cut and the eye is removed intact as a sphere. The blood vessels, nerves, muscles, and tear gland remains in the patient. The eyelids are not cut. When the patient wakes up from surgery, the area has a large patch and this is removed 24 hours later. The eyelids are closed. Two to six weeks later, after the healing is nearing completion, an artificial eye is fit by an ocularist. The ocularist is an artist who carfully studies the remaining eye and designs an artificial eye to exactly match the remaining eye. The artificial eye remains with teh patient forever and is worn at all t
