A high-efficiency, wide-angle illumination surgical system is disclosed, one embodiment comprising: a light source for providing a light beam an optical cable, optically coupled to the light source for receiving and transmitting the light beam a handpiece, operably coupled to the optical cable an optical fiber, operably coupled to the handpiece, wherein the optical fiber is optically coupled to the optical cable to receive and transmit the light beam an optical element, optically coupled to a distal end of the optical fiber, for receiving the light beam and scattering the light beam to illuminate an area, wherein the optical element comprises a compound parabolic concentrator (&ldquoCPC&rdquo) cone and a cannula, operably coupled to the handpiece, for housing and directing the optical fiber and the optical element. The optical element can be a small-gauge, diffusive optical element comprising a sculpted distal end of the optical fiber or a machined or injection-molded plastic CPC-cone. For example, the optical element can be a 19, 20 or 25 gauge optical element. The CPC-cone optical element angularly spreads the light beam out to a high off-axis angle and emits the light out of the distal end of the cannula with high efficiency.
