Eye Removal Surgery (Enucleation and Evisceration)

Enucleation removes the whole eyeball while leaving the eyelids, eye muscles and socket tissues. Evisceration removes the contents of the eye and leaves the white outer shell with the muscles attached. In both, a ball implant replaces the lost volume and a custom artificial eye is fitted over it later.

It relieves a blind, painful eye or removes a tumour, and the modern cosmetic result is usually good. It cannot restore sight, and the artificial eye moves less than a natural one.

What Eye Removal Surgery (Enucleation and Evisceration) involves

Under general anaesthetic the surgeon opens the conjunctiva around the cornea. For enucleation, the four rectus muscles are tagged with sutures and detached, the oblique muscles and the optic nerve are cut, and the globe is removed and sent to pathology. An orbital implant of 18 to 22 mm, made of acrylic, silicone or porous material and sometimes wrapped, is placed in the muscle cone, and the muscles are attached to it or to the covering tissues so that they transmit movement. The Tenon layer and conjunctiva are closed over it in separate layers. A clear plastic conformer keeps the pocket shape behind the lids, and a pressure dressing is applied. Because the operation is irreversible, the side is marked and checked repeatedly before surgery starts.

Who is a good candidate for Eye Removal Surgery (Enucleation and Evisceration)?

The decision is made only after all attempts to keep a comfortable, useful eye have been considered.

• A blind, painful eye from end-stage glaucoma, injury or repeated surgery
• Eye tumours such as large uveal melanoma, or retinoblastoma in children, where eye-sparing treatment is not possible
• Severe trauma where the eye cannot be repaired
• Uncontrolled infection inside a blind eye (evisceration is usually chosen)
• A shrunken, disfigured blind eye that cannot wear a cosmetic shell comfortably

It is usually not the right choice if:

• An eye with any useful vision
• Pain that can be controlled with drops, laser or an injection behind the eye
• A suspected tumour inside the eye rules out evisceration; enucleation is required
• A comfortable blind eye that can wear a cosmetic shell over it

الخيارات التقنية

• Enucleation with orbital implant: Required for tumours and allows full pathology.
• Evisceration: Quicker, with slightly better movement; not used when a tumour is possible.
• Porous implants (hydroxyapatite, porous polyethylene): Tissue grows into them, which may improve movement but brings a higher exposure risk.
• Non-porous acrylic or silicone sphere: Simple and reliable, with low complication rates.
• Dermis-fat graft: Your own tissue, used in children or after implant exposure.

ماذا يحدث خلال علاجك

Surgery takes 60 to 90 minutes under general anaesthetic, often with a long-acting anaesthetic block. You stay in for a day or overnight. Aching and nausea in the first 24 to 48 hours are usual and are treated with regular painkillers and anti-sickness medicine.

الإعداد لرحلتك

Plan for 7 to 10 days for surgery; second visit at 6 to 8 weeks for the prosthesis in Istanbul. Your surgeon reviews photographs and your medical history before you book, and you meet in person the day before surgery for examination, marking and consent with a professional interpreter.

• Stop smoking and nicotine at least four weeks before and after surgery; it is the single biggest avoidable cause of wound problems
• Tell the team about every medicine and supplement you take; blood thinners, some herbal products and hormone treatment may need to be paused on your doctor's advice
• Arrange for someone to travel with you or to be reachable, and keep the first days at home free of work and lifting
• Book a changeable return flight; your surgeon confirms when you are fit to fly

التعافي والنتائج

The pressure dressing stays on for 2 to 5 days. Lid swelling and bruising settle over 2 weeks; antibiotic ointment is used for a few weeks. At 6 to 8 weeks an ocularist takes an impression of the socket and hand-paints a prosthesis to match your other eye, which needs two or three appointments over several days. The prosthesis is polished yearly and replaced about every 5 to 7 years. Wear protective glasses to safeguard your remaining eye.

• Back to everyday activity: 1 to 2 weeks
• When results show: Artificial eye fitted at 6 to 8 weeks
• How long they last: Implant is permanent; prosthesis renewed every 5 to 7 years

سياسة السلامة والمخاطر والتنقيح

Healing is usually straightforward; most later problems concern the socket.

• Exposure or extrusion of the implant, sometimes years later
• Socket infection or persistent discharge
• A sunken upper lid or drooping lid as socket fat shrinks over time
• Limited movement of the artificial eye
• Sympathetic ophthalmia, a very rare inflammation of the other eye, mainly after evisceration or trauma
• Loss of depth perception and reduced side vision, with implications for driving licence rules
• Emotional adjustment; counselling and peer support help

Every written proposal arranged through Clinic-Y states what the clinic covers if a correction is needed. Ask for it before you book, not after.

Cost of Eye Removal Surgery (Enucleation and Evisceration) in Türkiye

Clinic-Y does not publish a single price for Eye Removal Surgery (Enucleation and Evisceration), because the honest figure depends on your case. What moves it:

• Enucleation or evisceration, and the implant type
• Pathology examination
• The custom-made prosthesis and the ocularist's visits
• Whether the prosthesis is made on a second trip
• Any later socket or lid surgery

Send your photographs or reports and you receive written, all-inclusive proposals from suitable teams, side by side. Reviewing your case is free.

الأسئلة المتكررة