Cutting edge sinus treatment offers new hope

Balloon Sinuplasty opens the passageways, relieving sinusitis.

A new technique is now available to open blocked sinus passages, without the need for cutting or excision.

For sinusitis sufferers, the current state of the art approach is endoscopic sinus surgery, which involves the use of endoscopes to magnify the inside of the nose and sinuses. The magnified images are displayed on a screen which allows the surgeon to view the inside of the nose and sinus cavities. The endoscopes are either directed straight ahead or off to the sides of the nasal passages by using angled scopes ranging from 25 to 70 degrees. Fine rotating cutting burrs (micro-debriders) similar to those used for endoscopic surgery on the knee, are then used to remove swollen tissue, blockages or polyps within the nose or sinuses.

The new technique of Balloon Sinuplasty is now available for suitable candidates. According to Dr. Sam Mickelson, “The best candidates for this new treatment are those with isolated blockage of the maxillary sinus, in the cheek area”. This technique is performed in the operating room and involves placement of a flexible probe into the blocked sinus. The position of the probe is verified by a real time Xray, known as flouroscopy. Near the tip of the probe is an inflatable balloon, which can be inflated with pressure applied by a special syringe. Under Xray guidance, the probe is properly positioned so that the balloon sits just at the natural sinus opening and the balloon is inflated. Once the Xray confirms that the sinus opening has been enlarged, the balloon is deflated and the probe is removed.

Dr. Andrew Golde has described the current outpatient endoscopic surgical approach as “minimally invasive, since once endoscopic sinus surgery is performed, most patients are discharged to home with only mild discomfort and then go back to work in just a few days”. However, compared to our current techniques, Balloon Sinuplasty is even less invasive.

At Advanced Ear Nose and Throat Associates, patients with recurrent or chronic sinusitis are first evaluated in the office to verify the presence of infection and then treated with an appropriate medication for a long enough period of time to try to eradicate the infection. A sinus CAT scan Xray is then performed to determine if they are candidates for this new technique.