Home > Encyclopedia of Surgery > Ophthalmologic Surgery

Definition

Ophthalmologic surgery is a surgical procedure performed on the eye or any part of the eye.

Purpose

Surgery on the eye is routinely performed to repair retinal defects, remove cataracts or cancer, or to repair eye muscles. The most common purpose of ophthalmologic surgery is to restore or improve vision.

Demographics

Patients from the very young to very old have ocular conditions that warrant eye surgery. Two of the most common procedures are phacoemulsification for cataracts and elective refractive surgeries.

Cataract surgery is the most common ophthalmic procedure. More than 1.5 million cataract surgeries are performed in the United States each year. The National Eye Institute (NEI) recently...