After some serious eye and orbital infections or eye tumors, it may be necessary to remove all orbital tissues, including the eye and lids. In this case, prostheses containing both eyes and lids must be used. These prostheses are also called epitheses.
How Does the Process Proceed in Patients Suitable for Epithesis?
Generally, in these patients, we first completely remove the eye and surrounding structures with a surgery we call exenteration. Approximately 3 months after the surgery, when the eye socket heals, the process of using epithesis begins.
The surgery consists of two stages.
In the first stage, we place screws around the eye socket, which we call implants, just like dental implants. Approximately 3 months after the first surgery, we move on to the second stage.
In the second stage, we replace the implant tips we used before with magnetic tips. Approximately 3 months after this surgery, our patients are able to perform their epitheses.