Sinusitis is a common ailment. It usually responds to antibiotics, but at times it doesn’t, usually because the openings from the sinuses into the naso-pharyngeal cavity are blocked. Thus if your sinusitis is not responding to antibiotics or recurring frequently your GP may send you to an ENT Surgeon for consideration of surgery to open up the blocked sinuses.
The surgery requires a general anaesthetic. Most patients stay one night in hospital. It is not painful. Post-operative care is very important in getting a good result, so follow the surgeon’s advice carefully.
The surgery is often called FESS, meaning Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery. It is very rare for patients today to need to have open surgery on the sinuses.
The important thing is that modern surgery is endoscopic, which means it is done by passing a telescope through the nose to enter the sinuses. The sinuses are entered and usually drained and flushed. And the paths into the sinus are widened. There are usually multiple sinuses entered and each is charged for separately, so that the average patient has about three separate procedures billed, some more. (The costs reported in My Dr Bill relate to the total out of pocket costs for all procedures done in a single hospitalization.)
Sinus surgery is about 85 – 90% effective. Followup is important, you may need further sinus washouts in the doctor’s office later, it may be months before the infection is finally eradicated.