Sinus Surgery

Sinus surgery is perhaps the final option when you constantly suffer from sinus infection.

When should you consider Sinus Surgery?

Sinus surgery is a last resort after all ways of treating the regular bouts of sinus infection have been exhausted.

This means that you have tried over-the-counter medications, sinus infection home remedies, avoiding exposure to known allergens, and even medications prescribed by doctors.

Unfortunately, all of us may react differently to the various available remedies. Some may respond well to these types of treatments, but others may not.

You may wish to consider sinus surgery should you be generally in good health and when there is indication from the doctor that there is possibility of success by going through the surgery.

A visit to an ENT doctor is probably the best bet when it comes to which type of surgery is most suitable.

The Main Objective of Sinus Surgery

Normally, your ENT doctor will focus on the main causes of your recurrent sinus infections. For example, if your inferior turbinates are unusually large, then it may be a surgery to reduce the size of these turbinates. So if your doctor is contemplating that you go for surgery, he is going to decide if the success of such a procedure is high.

If there are sinus polyps obstructing normal airflow in the sinus regions, it has to be removed. Sometimes, deviated septum could be the cause of the problem and that requires surgery to fix it.

When a person has a fungal sinus infection, the type of surgery required is again different. Therefore, the main objective of sinus surgery is to solve and treat the main causes of sinus infection so that the patient can finally be free from such infections.

Potential Risks and Complications of Sinus Surgery

As with all surgeries, there are some inherent risks involved. Fully understanding them from your doctor is crucial since you want to make a well-informed decision.

There could be excessive bleeding during and after surgery. In rare cases, there may be a need for a blood transfusion when there is significant blood loss. Also, if your immune system is weak, there is a chance of getting a bacterial infection. However, most of the time, antibiotics are prescribed for you after surgery to prevent this from occurring.

Complications can also arise during the healing process. This is especially so if the patient has other health issues in rare cases, death may occur. So, post-surgery care by a highly qualified doctor is extremely important.

Some patients may have adverse reactions to local or general anesthesia and that could cause cardiac and pulmonary complications. However, these risks are pretty rare today.

There is a possibility of damage to eye structure which can cause problems to the eyes from such surgery. The lips and upper teeth could feel numb after such surgery could occur as well. But this is usually transient. There are individuals that have lost their abilities to smell following sinus surgery.

Some patients, in the hope of finding a permanent cure for sinus headaches after surgery may end up not being cured and could instead experience additional headaches. It must be emphasized that sinus surgery could fail and the patient is no better off than before surgery. The success or failure of such surgeries is very much dependent on the experience and skill of the surgeon.

Types of Sinus Surgery

Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS)

Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery involves the surgical removal of infected and inflamed tissues in the sinus and nasal passages. It is also effectively employed to expand the sinus passages for better drainage.

The operation is minimally invasive and performed completely through the nostrils without any external incisions. It employs a new technology known as Image Guided Systems (IGS) which allows ENT surgeons to more accurately locate the diseased and infected sinus tissues which require surgery.

The advantage of using such technology typically reduces the chances of complications arising during surgery.

Normally, it takes between a week to 10 days after the FESS procedure for the patient to recover completely.

Balloon Sinuplasty

Balloon Sinuplasty is a relatively new procedure that has emerged recently. The advantage of this procedure over Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery is that it is minimally invasive and there is less loss of blood. The procedure makes use of a special balloon to expand sinus passages which are found to be too narrow for proper sinus mucus drainage.