Enucleation evisceration prosthesis

Enucleation is the surgical procedure in which the eyeball is removed for various reasons, such as painful blind eye, unrecoverable traumatized eye, and eye tumors.

Enucleation surgery is done on an outpatient basis, under general anesthesia in 80% of cases and under local anesthesia in 20% of cases.

A permanent spherical intra-orbital implant is inserted in place of the eye. It takes about 1 month to 6 weeks for full recovery. After healing the patient is referred to an ocularist to fabricate a bespoke prosthesis that closely resembles the other healthy eye, often making it difficult to differentiate between the two sides.

Ocularists are artists who manufacture custom prostheses personalized to each patient whose color, appearance and resemblance merge with the healthy eye.

Evisceration is a more widely used procedure than enucleation, it involves covering the intra-orbital implant which will replace the eye with the sclera which is the outermost layer and which will not be removed.

Evisceration is preferred over enucleation because it provides better ocular motility and reduces the risk of implant extrusion. Indeed the sclera which will cover the implant always remains attached to the intra ocular muscles.

Exenteration is a more invasive procedure than evisceration, and enucleation. indeed all the contents of the orbit, including the eye, are removed. This is usually done for certain tumors or serious fungal infections.

The indication for evisceration or enucleation varies from patient to patient.

Violent eye trauma, globes lost following several surgical operations when they are painful and atrophic, eye tumors, infections, ...