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Corneal transplant

Typical stay in China2–4 nights
Indicative band¥30k–50k / eye
Indicative band¥30k–50k / eyeindicative

Drawn from provincial schedules and institutions' published lists. Not a quote.

Typical stay2–4 nights

Your case can differ; the treating team sets the real schedule.

Decided byThe treating institution

Eligibility, technique and price are theirs to state. We translate and coordinate.

1. What Corneal transplant is

A damaged cornea is replaced with donor tissue, full-thickness or lamellar depending on which layers are diseased. Graft availability, not price, is the real constraint.

A transplant is rationed by tissue, not money: eye bank supply sets the queue. The technique, replacing only the diseased layer where possible, is what modern practice adds.

2. Who it is typically considered for

For corneal scarring, keratoconus beyond cross-linking, or endothelial failure. The technique chosen follows the layer involved.

3. How the process usually runs

01Step 1Assessment of which layers are affected 02Step 2Waitlist for suitable donor tissue 03Step 3The transplant 04Long suture and steroid scheduleLong suture and steroid schedule, months of follow-up

4. What sits inside, and outside, the institution's bill

Typically inside the bill
  • The procedure, theatre or suite time, and the treating team
  • Standard ward stay for the listed nights
  • Routine drugs and consumables during the admission
  • The institution's own scheduled follow-up visit
Usually billed separately
  • Flights, hotel and daily costs
  • Our translation, interpretation and coordination fees, published separately
  • Treatment of complications beyond the routine course
  • A companion's costs
What moves the total
  • Technique (PK, DALK, DSAEK/DMEK)
  • Waiting arrangements
  • Follow-up visits, some possible in your home country

You contract with the institution directly and pay it directly. We add nothing to its bill and never handle payments owed to it.

5. Recovery and follow-up

01Step 1Shields and drops protect the graft in the first weeks 02Step 2Sutures may stay for months and are removed stepwise 03Step 3Vision stabilises slowly; refraction is finalised late

6. Common questions

How long is the wait for tissue?

It varies with the eye bank's supply; ask for the current realistic range rather than a promise.

Full-thickness or lamellar?

Whichever the diseased layer dictates. Lamellar techniques keep your healthy layers, with faster recovery.

Can follow-up happen in my country?

Much of it, if a corneal specialist accepts the handover; we translate the operative and follow-up notes.

What threatens the graft?

Rejection and infection, which is what the drop schedule and urgent-review rules exist for.

7. What to ask the institution

  • Which technique for my cornea, and why?
  • What is the realistic wait for tissue?
  • Which follow-up must happen here, and what can happen at home?

Our part, and its limits

We translate your records in full, correspond with institutions in Chinese, and interpret on site, at the rates published on the fees page. We do not give medical advice, do not recommend one institution over another, and never handle payments owed to any hospital. Whether this procedure is right for you is a question only the treating physicians can answer. Nothing on this page is medical advice, and no outcome is implied or promised.

Before any of this, the records

A rehabilitation plan can only be written by an institution that has read your case accurately. That is where the work starts.

Read: preparing your records →