Sinusitis affects more than 30 million Americans every year. In most cases, people suffering from the condition respond well to standard treatment. However, there are cases where patients continue experiencing chronic pain even after going through treatment.
In cases where traditional treatment fails, surgery becomes crucial. There are reasons for this. One, sinusitis results in uncomfortable and sometimes blinding pain around the affected regions.
Surgery becomes necessary to help relieve the pain. Two, the proximity of the sinus cavity to the brain makes sinusitis a high-risk health problem. The inflammation can quickly spread to the brain leading to severe complications.
Once your physician determines your need for surgery, they may likely recommend stealth sinus surgery.
What Is Stealth Sinus Surgery?
This is a less-intrusive sinus surgery that is considered safer than traditional surgery. It involves the use of an imaging system to guide the surgeon as they navigate the anatomy.
The surgeon inserts a probe into the patient’s nose that is connected to a computer. The anatomy and probe’s scan are sent to the computer as the surgeon traces the problem areas. They rely on the computer image to correlate the location of the probe in the anatomy. This ensures safe and thorough surgery.
How Does It Differ From Traditional Sinus Surgery?
In traditional sinus surgery, the surgeon relies solely on their anatomy knowledge. This makes the surgery potentially risky as compared to the image-guided one.
The sinus cavity lies close to the brain, eyes, and major arteries. Navigating the anatomy blindly has, in some cases, led to severe after-surgery complications.
Stealth sinus surgery enhances the patient’s safety and enables the surgeon to conduct thorough surgery.
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Who Needs Stealth Sinus Surgery?
As earlier mentioned, sinus surgery should be done where regular treatments do not provide relief to patients. However, if you or your loved one continue experiencing persistent pain after trying all forms of treatments – medication, immunotherapy, and lifestyle remedies, then you may consider stealth sinus surgery.
The surgery is also ideal for patients who have gone through traditional sinus procedures before. The image-aided operation helps the surgeon avoid previous scars, which may be highly sensitive. Also, the surgeon can see problem areas that the first surgery may have missed.
Lastly, stealth sinus surgery should be done on patients with unusual sinus anatomy. As much as great surgeons have a good knowledge of anatomy, their expertise is only limited to what is considered normal. Traditional surgery on unusual anatomy is therefore risky and can easily turn fatal or result in serious complications.
How Long Is Recovery Time?
Though the first 24 hours after surgery will be quite uncomfortable for you or your loved ones, healing should occur in a few days.
First, however, it’s essential to follow the physician’s after-surgery instructions to aid the healing process. These may include keeping off strenuous activity, avoid blowing off your nose, etc.
Conclusion
Though surgery should be the last resort in treating sinusitis, it provides excellent relief to patients who have endured sinus pain for a long time. The sinus cavity is a sensitive part of the body that can easily be fatal if not well-operated.
Therefore, searching for a highly skilled surgeon should be your priority to help safeguard your safety or that of your loved ones.
An experienced surgeon makes the stealth sinus surgery even safer. And once the procedure is done, you should be able to resume your everyday life after a few days.
If you or your loved one wants to know more about stealth sinus surgery, please contact us today.
Joseph, T Pacer
Joe Pacer has been an Audiologist with Fox Valley Ear, Nose & Throat Associates since 1988. He received his Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders from Northern Illinois University in 1986 where he continued and received his Master of Arts in Audiology in 1988. He is a member of the American Academy of Audiology. Joe works closely with his patients and has extensive experience performing hearing evaluation as well as recommending, fitting and trouble shooting hearing aids.
