One of the recent surgical procedures that have been developed to treat sinuses is sinus catheterization. Here is what you need to know about sinus surgery.
Sinus surgery: how is it performed?
With the development of medical technologies, doctors have become able to perform surgery on people suffering from chronic sinus infections, by opening the sinuses with a medical balloon.
The most important information about sinus surgery and how to recover from it is as follows:
How is balloon sinus surgery performed?
The balloon sinus surgery procedure is performed as follows
During the procedure, the doctor s a lighted scope into the sinus cavity to control the field of vision during the operation.
The doctor then s a balloon and inflates it slowly until the sinuses expand.
While the inflated balloon is in the sinuses, a saline solution is released into it to remove mucus and pus from the sinus cavity, so that the balloon continues the process of expanding the sinuses.
The balloon is inflated and pulled out after ensuring success.
Advantages of balloon sinus surgery
The advantage of sinus catheterization is that it does not require deep surgical intervention, such as cutting flesh or removing bones. It may even be performed under local anesthesia only or general anesthesia when necessary.
How is sinus surgery recovered?
Here are some notes on recovery from a sinus catheter
In general, the patient who undergoes balloon sinus surgery returns to normal life within just a day or two, and some are even completely independent in returning from the hospital or clinic.
In the first week following the operation, the patient may see some bloody secretions coming out of the nose. This is normal and does not cause concern, as it may be accompanied by some swelling and general fatigue. In general, these symptoms disappear within 5-7 days from the day of the operation.
The doctor usually asks the patient not to blow his nose at all during at least the first day after the operation, and also prevents him from making any effort that might increase his heart rate, in addition to raising his head high during sleep to reduce the need to blow his nose and clean it with a tissue.
The patient must follow the doctor’s instructions and use antibiotics that prevent infections, in addition to taking the medications he prescribes, which will lead to the patient recovering quickly from the operation.
What are the risks and complications of balloon sinus surgery?
Of course, every surgical operation requires anesthesia. It is necessary to ensure beforehand the extent of the body’s tolerance to anesthesia and the absence of any sensitivity to it. As for this procedure specifically, its risks and complications are:
The sinus area is a somewhat sensitive area, as cerebrospinal fluid may leak into the nose, which explains why surgery is left as a last option after trying all medications and treatments. However, the incidence of this occurrence is low and can be fixed before the end of the surgery.
There is some risk in the possibility that the appearance of the nose will change slightly after surgery, as sometimes this tumor does not disappear for several days or the shape of the nose changes as it passes.
Failure to maintain complete disinfection during the procedure may result in serious contamination.
Most sinus operations affect and improve the sense of smell, but in some less common cases the operation has the opposite effect.
In the end, it should be noted that this procedure is new in the medical market and does not depend entirely on surgery. This is what causes some insurance companies to consider it an unnecessary cosmetic operation, so it is preferable that you examine the matter first before making your decision to perform it.
