People require sinus endoscopy or sinoscopy when they have complex nasal problems which cannot be treated using basic medication. Professionals who operate on those who have sinus problems are called otolaryngologists and their expertise is mainly to deal with nasal, throat and ear problems.
They use this form of surgery to remove anything that may obstruct aeration in some parts of a persons’ skull. Exploration of all the causes that lead to sinusitis are done and corrected during this process.
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CAUSES THAT LEAD TO HAVE THIS PROCEDURE DONE?
People require this kind of sinus surgery when they have lost the ability to taste or smell, find it very difficult to breathe, have obstructions in their nasal canal and feel a lot of pain on the face especially the skull. It is usually done when other methods such as the use of medication has been tried without much success.
There are several reasons that may cause this procedure to be done as outlined below:-
Swellings in asthmatic patients, called polyps or cysts which are not cancerous but are usually filled with water may block the nasal passage.
An infection in a person’s tooth may lead to sinusitis. When there is an accumulation of mucous in an infected tooth, it may spread out to the sinuses which may eventually require endoscopy depending on the infection and how complex the situation is.
Poor ventilation in a home where a person lives.
Allergy reactions and swellings in the nasal passageways, bacterial as well as viral infections which lower a person’s immunity, colds that do not seem to go away may also lead to sinus endoscopy.
Stressful situations.
Putting foreign objects in the nose that may cause obstructions in the nasal passage.
Curved or bent septum.
Tumors caused by cells that cannot be controlled may grow in the nasal canal and these are removed using surgery.
Hormonal imbalance
WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE SINUS ENDOSCOPY PROCEDURE?
Sinus endoscopy is a new system of treating sinusitis. Its main purpose is to enable the flow of mucus to pass out normally through a person’s nose and helps keep the sinuses well aerated.
Before the actual sinus endoscopy, an ear, nose and throat expert checks a patient for any pus, infections, diseases, polys, tumors along the nasal canal that may be causing hindrances to normal breathing.
Symptoms of other medical conditions are noted and thereafter a CT scan, which is a form of an X-ray of the head, is conducted on the patient to give a clearer track for the endoscopy exam. The patient is then given local anesthesia before the procedure to prevent discomfort that may arise. This may be in the form of a spray or injection.
During this procedure, a bendable tube which has fiber optic equipment at the end is inserted into the patient’s nostril. The fiber optic equipment not only illuminates, but enlarges the internal sections of the nasal passages and throat areas of the patient as they are being checked.
The obstructions and any other abnormal tissues are then cleared to improve ventilation. No bleeding is experienced in this form of surgery and it takes a very short time without causing swelling or scarring. It requires no hospitalization and a patient can go home after a few hours.
IS IT SAFE?
The procedure has been known to be safe but can cause some minor discomfort such as an irritation of the nasal and throat passages. This can result in a cough or at its worse a nose bleed.
Blindness has been the worst risk that has been seen after this kind of operation and can only occur if the optic nerve has been damaged. However, such cases are very rare.
WHAT KIND OF ORTHODOX METHODS WERE USED BEFORE?
Prior to the introduction of sinus endoscopy in the treatment of sinusitis, other traditional methods were being used. These involved hospitalization of the patient. The surgery was done directly on the face into the sinus or through the patient’s mouth in the upper palate.
At times the process would be so extensive and an incision would be made on the patients face. This would then be left open to drain the mucous. This method was found to be rather cumbersome and required such high standards of hygiene from the patient to avoid infecting the operated area.
However, despite these few issues it is still considered a very effective method in the treatment of chronic cases of sinusitis to date.
We can see from the above information that Sinus Endoscopy is an improvement of the orthodox treatment of sinusitis in terms of time taken for the procedure and prevention of infections.