All You Need to Know about Sinus Surgery

Sinuses are cavities inside the skull of an individual that is situated around the eyes and nose and within the ears.

Those cavities help to lighten the skull. Also, they produce mucus which provides moisture to the nasal passages. The mucus contains a protective layer that helps to keep away foreign contaminants such as toxins, debris, and infectious organisms.

Sinuses are lined with cilia, which are cells that are very fine like hairs. The cilia help clear the mucus into the sinus openings and out of the nose.

What is Sinus Surgery?

Sinus surgery is a procedure aimed at opening up the sinus channels and removing blockages. It is a choice for persons with chronic and persistent sinus infections, for persons with abnormal sinus structure, or abnormal sinus development.

Before resorting to surgery, the best ENT doctor will often try other treatments and procedures. If these do not work, then surgery may be performed.

With little pain, surgery to the sinus can be performed. It’s a short process, with little complications.

What are the Reasons for Sinus Surgery?

A person may need sinus surgery to treat a range of problems. Frequent causes include nasal polyps and sinusitis.

Nasal Polyps

Nasal polyps are nasal lining swellings inside the nasal passageways and sinuses. These can range in size but usually are teardrop-shaped.

Larger polyps or clusters can cause problems with breathing and can affect the sense of smell of someone. These can also block the sinuses of a person which leads to infections.

Sinusitis

Sinusitis is swelling of the or passages of the nasal sinuses. It can sometimes be termed an infection with the sinus. A person with sinusitis may have the symptoms listed below:

• cough
• pressure within the forehead, nose, or eyes
• headaches
• head congestion
• difference in hearing

Other Possible Reasons

Other infections, ongoing blockages, abnormal growths, and other problems that cause inflammation in the nasal passages and sinuses may also require sinus surgery.

What are the Types of Sinus Surgery?

Image-Guided System

Image-guided endoscopic surgery is a newer technique that may be prescribed after prior sinus surgery for serious cases of sinus blockages.

This method of procedure, in addition to using an endoscope, uses a near-three-dimensional mapping device to show the surgeon the location of the surgical instruments. CT scans and infrared signals are used to do this.

With this technique a surgeon can correctly negotiate complex passages of the sinus and remove tissues and other blockages.

Caldwell-Luc Surgery

It is less usual, and it is more intrusive. This appears to be achieved when within the sinus cavity there is a growth present.

Caldwell-Luc Surgery seeks to suppress growth and enhance the drainage of the sinuses. It creates a pathway, called the maxillary sinus, between the nose and the cavity beneath the eye. This window then helps with the drainage.

In the upper jaw, the surgeon makes a slit, behind one of the second molar teeth inside the mouth. They then pass through this cut into the sinus cavity. This surgery will occur under local or general anesthetic.

Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS)

Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) is a minimally invasive surgical treatment that uses nasal endoscopes to widen the paranasal sinus nasal drainage pathways to improve ventilation of the sinuses.

This technique is commonly used in Graves ophthalmopathy to treat inflammatory and infectious diseases of the sinus, including chronic rhinosinusitis that does not respond to medications, nasal polyps, certain cancers, and decompression of eye sockets or optic nerves.