MODEL RELEASED. Cataract surgery. Surgeons using microscopes during cataract surgery. The microscope view of the patient's eye is seen on the screen at upper left. A cataract is an abnormal cloudy and opaque area that can form in the lens of an eye. The condition will lead to blindness unless it is treated. Cataract surgery involves cutting the cornea (at the front of the eye), removing the cloudy lens, and replacing it with a plastic fixed-focus lens.