Surgeons have suggested that a safe and effective option for treating a variety of advanced brain diseases and traumatic injuries is transorbital neuroendoscopic surgery called TONES.

This surgery that is gaining popularity is performed through the eye socket, thus eliminating the removal of the top of the skull to access the brain, surgeons at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine and University of Washington Medical Center said.

A small incision behind or through the eyelid is made by the surgeons to achieve access. After this to reach the brain, a tiny hole is made through the paper-thin bone of the eye socket.

Without lifting the brain, this pathway permits repairs to be made. The optic nerves, the carotid and ophthalmic arteries and the nerves for smell are protected by the TONES approach.

For repairing cerebral spinal fluid leaks, repair of cranial base fractures, optic nerve decompression, and removal of tumors was what the patients underwent the TONES procedure for.

Performed through the eye socket, surgeons in Washington and California have pioneered a new technique for brain surgery.

UC San Diego Medical Center and the University of Washington Medical Center are the two institutions where TONES is currently performed.