First-of-its-kind surgery removes spinal tumor through eye socket

Imagine being 19 years old and hearing that surgeons need to remove a tumor near your spinal cord through your eye socket. In April 2025, this became reality for Karla Flores, a young woman with a rare spinal tumor. Before the operation, Karla whispered a tearful goodbye to her parents, unsure if she’d see them again. The procedure she underwent – removing a spinal tumor via the orbit of the eye – had never been attempted before. It was a daring, last-resort plan, but one grounded in cutting-edge science and an outpouring of compassionate care.

A rare tumor in a tricky place

Karla’s diagnosis was a chordoma, an exceptionally rare type of bone cancer that can occur at the base of the skull or along the spine. Only about 300 people in the United States are diagnosed with chordomas each year, roughly a one-in-a-million occurrence. (For perspective, that’s about as uncommon as a bizarre tick-borne allergy to red meat known as alpha-gal syndrome – truly among the rarest health conditions.) These tumors arise from leftover embryonic notochord cells and tend to grow slowly, but they can burrow into critical areas and often come back even after treatment. In Karla’s case, the chordoma was “strangling” her spinal cord near the base of her skull, making it life-threatening if not removed.

Treating a chordoma is never simple. These tumors don’t respond well to standard chemotherapy or traditional radiation, so doctors usually rely on surgery to remove as much tumor as possible. The surgery can be quite complex, especially when the tumor is tangled around nerves or blood vessels. In fact, Karla had already endured two marathon surgeries to excise a portion of the tumor that had invaded her brain area. Now, a remaining piece wrapped around her upper spinal cord posed a new challenge: how could surgeons reach this dangerous fragment safely? Removing it through a conventional open approach (like through the back of the neck) risked severe damage to the spinal cord or major arteries. Given the tumor’s awkward position, the medical team decided to think outside the box – or rather, through the eye socket.

Creating a new surgical route

Surgeons around the world have been developing minimally invasive paths to reach tumors at the skull base. One common technique is the endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA), which involves threading instruments through the nostrils and sinuses to access hard-to-reach tumors without opening the skull. The EEA uses the nose as a natural corridor to the brain or top of the spine, avoiding facial incisions and often leading to shorter recovery times. Karla’s own doctors had used an endonasal surgery to remove part of her tumor in a previous operation. But the remaining tumor segment was positioned in such a way that even the EEA might not provide a direct enough line of sight. That’s when her neurosurgeon, Dr. Mohamed Labib, proposed an even more unconventional route – through the orbit (eye socket) on the side of her head. He jokingly nicknamed the eye socket a “third nostril", since it could serve as an alternate entry point to the same deep regions.

The transorbital approach is a novel minimally invasive surgery that involves making a small incision around or behind the eye to create a pathway for instruments. In Karla’s surgery, a multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons and skull base surgeons worked together, temporarily removing part of the bony eye socket (and a bit of cheek bone) to access the tumor’s location. Using an endoscope (a thin tube with a light and camera) through this opening, they carefully navigated to the front of her spinal canal. This approach gave a “straight shot” to the tumor while avoiding critical structures – the surgeons didn’t have to disturb her brainstem, large blood vessels like the carotid artery and jugular vein, or the nerves for swallowing and speech. In other words, going through the eye socket let them come at the tumor from an angle that bypassed the minefield of vital anatomy.

Modern medical technology made this delicate operation possible. High-resolution imaging allowed the team to plan a precise path, and advanced surgical tools gave them fine control in a tight space. (Today’s surgeons even have robotic assistants and AI-guided systems that can perform ultra-steady movements during such intricate procedure.) Over many hours, Karla’s surgeons painstakingly worked through the orbital corridor to cut away the tumor encircling her spinal cord. They then rebuilt her eye socket using a custom titanium mesh and bone grafts, so that cosmetically you wouldn’t even know she had surgery on her face. When the operation was finally over, the once “inoperable” tumor was gone – a world-first success for the medical team, and a huge relief for Karla and her family.

Healing, recovery, and support

Karla woke up from surgery with the tumor removed and her spine intact. Thanks to the surgeons’ skill (and perhaps a bit of luck), she suffered no paralysis or stroke – the major risks that had loomed over the attempt. Because a portion of a neck vertebra had been affected by the tumor, another procedure was done to stabilize her spine by fusing two upper vertebrae. It was the final step in an arduous journey: three surgeries (two via traditional and endonasal approaches, and the last through the eye), plus radiation. By the summer of 2025, Karla showed no evidence of cancer – an outcome that once seemed nearly impossible. Apart from some minor issues moving her left eye (due to nerve damage the tumor had already caused), she is recovering well and excited to resume a normal life.

This surgery doesn’t just mark a personal victory for Karla; it also opens a door of hope for other patients with tumors in precarious places. What was learned from her case will help doctors confidently tackle similar “inoperable” cases in the future. Knowing there is a new route to reach certain spinal tumors could potentially save lives and spare patients from more dangerous open surgeries. Equally important, Karla’s story highlights how crucial it is for patients with rare or complex conditions to have support every step of the way. Her health odyssey involved finding the right specialists, undergoing novel treatments, and enduring a lengthy recovery. Navigating such a journey can be overwhelming for anyone. That’s where tools like SlothMD come in. SlothMD is designed to support people facing tough health challenges – whether it’s a rare cancer or a chronic condition – by being a personal health companion. It can help with everything from finding the right specialist and navigating the healthcare maze to organizing years of medical records in one place for easy reference (a lifesaver when you’ve seen multiple doctors).

Karla’s experience was daunting and unique, but it’s also a story of resilience, innovation, and compassion. It shows how far modern medicine will go to fight for a patient’s life – sometimes literally finding a new way in when all other roads are blocked. And it reminds us that behind every medical marvel is a person hoping to get their life back. With the help of devoted healthcare teams and supportive tools for patients, even the most challenging diagnoses can come with a message of hope: you are not alone, and there is a path – however unorthodox – to a better tomorrow.

If you're interested in how technology can enhance your healthcare experience, explore these SlothMD articles:

• Discover how AI health assistants like SlothMD simplify finding doctors, managing insurance, and staying healthy.

• Learn about consumer health apps and how they can help you stay on top of your health.

• Understand how smart computers are changing healthcare by assisting in diagnostics and patient care.

• Find out if an AI doctor app could be your next healthcare provider.

• Get tips on organizing your medical records at home to ensure you have access to your health information when you need it.