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Monday, July 28, 2008
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Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS)
The operation
The aim of sinus surgery is to open the natural openings into the cheek sinuses and remove any diseased tissue from the ethmoid sinuses between the eyes. Only rarely is the frontal sinus operated on. Usually improving the function of the sinus complex by removing the anterior ethmoid sinuses allows better frontal sinus drainage.
Sinus surgery is good for relieving:
- facial pain secondary to sinus disease
- congestion around the nose
Sinus surgery will have little or no effect on:
- post-nasal drip/catarrh
- sneezing /dripping
- poor sense of smell
Septal surgery may also be reqiured for surgical access to the sinuses and to help with nasal obstruction.
The patient is admitted on the day of surgery and seen by the surgeon and anaesthetist. The operation is performed under a general anaesthetic and takes around one hour. Telescopes and fine instruments are used to remove the ethmoid sinuses between the eyes and to enlarge the natural ventilation and drainage hole into the cheek(maxillary) sinuses. A light vaseline gauze pack is placed in the nose to stop any bleeding and the patient is observed overnight. Next morning the pack is removed and the patient discharged.
Complications
Although uncommon the most likely complication should one happen is bleeding from the nose. Occasionally a return to theatre is required to stop the bleeding. More serious but extremely rare complications include damage to the orbital(eye) contents and a "CSF" leak where fluid from around the brain leaks through into the nose via a defect which may happen during the operation. If a leak should occur a longer stay in hospital may be necessary.
