How is Balloon Sinuplasty different from traditional sinus surgery?

The goal of any sinus procedure is to improve the drainage of the sinus cavities into the nose so that they remain free of pressure, pollen, bacteria, mold, etc. Sinus pressure and infections develop when these sinus drainage pathways become swollen and obstructed. For most patients, we can use medicines to reduce the swelling and improve the drainage, but for the others, medical therapy doesn't provide complete relief. Traditional sinus surgery required general anesthesia and involved the surgical removal of the tissue blocking the sinus drainage pathways. Balloon sinuplasty, which we helped develop approximately 7 years ago, was created as a tool to help us reach difficult sinuses, using a balloon to dilate the sinus opening. We quickly discovered that this tool was useful for most of the sinus drainage pathways, and was so minimally invasive and comfortable, that we could eliminate general anesthesia, and get patients back to work the same or next day. This procedure can be combined with repair of minor septal deviation as well as turbinate reduction to vastly improve nasal breathing as well as permanently relieve the sinus headaches and infections. Sinus surgery has come a long way from the days of facial bruising and yards of gauze packing. Now, with a 45 minute office procedure, we can you put your sinus headaches, infections, and nasal obstruction in your past and have you back to work the next day.

Christopher Thompson, MD

Does balloon sinuplasty really work?

Balloon sinuplasty is an innovative sinus procedure developed seven years ago. Using special balloons, sinus drainage pathways can be gently dilated in the clinic setting to relieve sinus pressure, sinus headaches, recurrent sinus infections and even chronic sinus infections.

But is there any proof that this technology really works and is it as simple as they say?

The first question most patients ask is “if you dilate my sinuses with a balloon, will the sinuses stay open long-term?” A study to address this question showed that 92% of sinuses that were dilated using balloon sinuplasty stayed dilated long-term.

The next question is “if you dilate my sinuses, will that relief my symptoms?” A separate study showed that 95% of patients who had balloon sinuplasty noted significant improvement if not resolution of their sinus complaints after the procedure.

Finally, patients always wonder if the clinic procedure is as easy as the physicians describe. The study that best answers this question showed that 95% of patients who underwent clinic balloon sinuplasty would have the procedure again.

With more than 160,000 procedures performed to date, balloon sinuplasty has consistently been shown to be safe, effective and well-tolerated by the chronic sinus sufferers who have benefited from the procedure.

Zachary Wassmuth, MD