Endoscopic sinus surgery is recommended only after it has been determined that medical management has been unsuccessful. Surgery, medical management, and failure to intervene all have risks, including as a group, post-operative bleeding, orbital complications (visual impairment), intracranial extension ( brain damage or infection), leakage of cerebrospinal fluid ( fluid around the brain)/ persistent or recurrent nasal obstruction due to failure to manage polyps and recurrent sinus infections. CT scans of the sinuses, nasal endoscopy, and physical examination of patients who have failed appropriate and adequate antibiotic therapy will identify the appropriate sinuses to treat.

 

The surgical treatment option is performed in the operating room with the patient under general anesthesia. The surgery is performed using a nasal endoscope. After surgery, the patient is watched for a couple of hours in the recovery room and then discharged home. There usually is no nasal packing involved, although the patient may have to wear a nasal drip pad overnight. Your surgeon will provide you with an oral antibiotic and pain medication to use in the first few days after surgery. Your surgeon also will provide you with a bulb syringe and instructions for using salt-water irrigations of the nose beginning on the first postoperative day. Your follow-up appointment will be scheduled for two weeks following surgery. In summary, endoscopic sinus surgery has proved to be a safe and effective way to treat patients with chronic sinus disease that have failed medical therapy.

Endoscopic sinus surgery