Balloon Sinuplasty

Common symptoms include:

• Facial pain, pressure, congestion, or fullness
• Nasal obstruction or blockage
• Discharge of discolored mucus from the nose
• Discolored post-nasal drainage
• Loss of smell
• Headache
• Fatigue

We have four paired paranasal sinuses:

1. Maxillary sinuses are behind the cheekbone, and facial pain in this area may also radiate to the teeth or ears.
2. Frontal sinuses are in the forehead region.
3. Ethmoid sinuses are between the eyes. Facial pain or pressure in these sinuses may radiate to the forehead or eyes.
4. Sphenoid sinuses are in the center of the skull and may cause pain radiating to the head's top and back. Because the sinuses drain into the back of the nasal cavity, symptoms may include nasal stuffiness and congestion.  When the condition is severe, the eyes may fail to drain into the nose resulting in watery eyes. If the middle ears fail to drain into the nose, ear pressure, pain, or dizziness may occur.

Balloon Sinuplasty (also known as "balloon sinus dilation" and "sinus balloon procedure") is a procedure designed to clear the sinuses. A small and flexible balloon catheter is inserted into your sinus and inflated to clear the sinus passage.

The surgery involves no incisions or cutting of bone or tissue. Your sinuses are then cleared, and you will feel relief from the pressure.

The procedure can be performed under local or general anesthesia.

A sinus balloon surgery works by dilating your sinuses and cleaning them out with a saline solution. This makes it easier for you to breathe and prevents further sinus infections.

Any sinus procedure aims to restore normal sinus drainage and circulation, so mucous, debris, and bacteria do not accumulate in the sinuses. In conventional endoscopic sinus surgery, specialized instruments are placed into the nose along with a small endoscope to surgically resect diseased tissue and open or core out the sinuses.

Balloon sinus dilation is performed through the nostrils that utilize a small balloon catheter to dilate obstructed sinus passages without making any incisions.

Patient Preparation & Procedure for Balloon Sinuplasty Procedure

To know what to expect from balloon sinuplasty, here is a step by step description of the procedure:

• Step 1: The nose is numbed with a combination of topical and local anesthetic.
• Step 2: A lighted fiber optic guidewire (1 mm in width) is painlessly snaked into the sinuses.
• Step 3: Once positioned correctly, the guidewire will trans-illuminate the face indicating perfect cannulation of the blocked sinus.
• Step 4: The balloon is advanced and gradually inflated to restructure the previously blocked sinus passage.

The key to understanding the elegance of balloon sinuplasty lies in the anatomy of sinus bone. The sinus bone is fragile like an eggshell. Once the balloon is inflated, the sinus bone cracks (as simply as an egg might crack with a tap).

In this case, the balloon dilation restructures the bone itself and permanently changes the aperture of the blocked sinus tract from as little as one mm to as large as 7mm.

After your balloon sinuplasty surgery, you should not experience any negative side effects. For the first few days, you may have some bloody discharge and nasal swelling. This is completely normal and part of the balloon sinuplasty recovery process.

Dr. Tadros may give you certain medications to deal with the discomfort. You can return to work in a day or two, depending on how you feel.

Dr. Tadros has performed hundreds of balloon sinus dilation in NYC & NJ. She is the best surgeon who is skilled in performing balloon dilation safely and effectively in-office. Typically, the office experience is quite comfortable for most patients and can be likened to a dental procedure.

However, some patients may have severe septal deviations, which make sinus access difficult. In other cases, some patients simply prefer the comfort of having the procedure performed under anesthesia in an ambulatory surgery center.

Our surgeon will meet with you and discuss whether you are a candidate for balloon sinus dilation and determine the treatment plan that is right for you.