It is considered to be very safe. There are no cuts in the body of the cornea. It is much safer than a corneal graft which has been very successful in the past, and even than a gas permeable contact lens, and also there is no chance of rejection (some grafts tend to last around 10 -15 years). The transplant carries risks such as infection, rejection, cataracts, glaucoma, astigmatism and failure. At 15 years, there is no difference in the survival rate between penetrating corneal transplants performed for Keratoconus and those carried out for all other indications. Young Keratoconus patients are likely to need one or more repeated grafts during their lifetime. Crosslinking avoids the removal of any corneal structural tissue (only the surface epithelial cells are removed, and these grow back mostly within two days).