What Is Enucleation?
In medicine, enucleation refers to a surgical procedure in which a surgeon removes the entire eyeball from the eye socket or orbit. One of three possible procedures for eye removal, an enucleation is the procedure of choice for intraocular tumors. Other common reasons for enucleation include irrecoverable ocular trauma, severe inflammation, and uncontrolled pain in a blind eye. Ophthalmologists perform enucleations as a last resort in situations where the condition being treated cannot be suitably managed in any other way. Most patients who undergo enucleation obtain an artificial prosthetic eye to replace the extracted eye for cosmetic improvement.
