Simple technique for graft insertion in Descemet-stripping (automated) endothelial keratoplasty using a 30-gauge needle
Received 10 June 2008; received in revised form 27 October 2008; accepted 28 October 2008.
We describe a needle insertion technique for graft insertion in Descemet-stripping (automated) endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK/DSAEK). A folded donor posterior corneal disk is inserted through a 5.0 mm scleral tunnel incision over a plastic glide using a 30-gauge needle. The technique enables safe and easy graft insertion without vertical or horizontal compression of the donor tissue, causing minimal trauma to the donor endothelium and/or host structures.
From the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery (Balachandran, Ham, Birbal, Wong, van der Wees, Melles), the Melles Cornea Clinic (Balachandran, Ham, Melles), and Amnitrans Eye Bank (Birbal, Wong, van der Wees, Melles), Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Correspondence to: Gerrit R.J. Melles, MD, PhD, Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
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