A surgical operation to displace the opaque lens of an eye as a treatment for cataracts.
An operation for cataract in which the lens is pushed out of the pupil downward and backward into the jellylike vitreous humor by a small knife inserted through the edge of the cornea. It was widely employed in ancient Hindu civilizations and has been practiced ever since. Its sole advantage is speed of performance, but modern developments in surgery and anesthesia leave little place for it today. The complication rate is very high.