navigation, your docs have more options than ever to treat a wider
spectrum of sinusitis sufferers. "We have new tools to reduce the
amount of bleeding, and we have new methods to reduce the amount
of pain," says Natan Scher, MD, an otolaryngologist at Ingalls Health
System in Harvey, Ill. "We also have new implants and some other
technical methods that all help to improve outcomes."
B a l l o o n s i n u p l a s ty m a d e s i m p l e
While balloon sinuplasty has been around for almost a decade, it is
now less reliant on general anesthesia and is shifting from mainly hos-
pital settings to ambulatory surgery centers or offices. It's also one of
the largest growing treatments for sinusitis, thanks to its quick recov-
ery period and convenience for patients. "It has revolutionized sinusi-
tis treatment," says Dr. Hopp.
Increasingly being done only under local anesthesia, balloon sinu-
plasty is evolving to work well in high-turnover settings, says Dr.
Hopp. In the updated procedure, a local anesthetic is injected into the
sinus and patients remain awake for the procedure, allowing for a
quicker recovery. The balloon catheter is inserted into the inflamed
sinus and inflated to expand and restructure the sinus opening. Saline
is then sprayed into the inflamed sinus to flush out pus and mucus,
and the system is removed, allowing the sinus to drain.
Its minimally invasive qualities attract both patients and doctors.
It's much less traumatic than endoscopic surgery, the doctors say,
with patients able to return to normal activities within 2 days. With
about 33 million reported cases of sinusitis every year, many
patients are drawn to the quick fix. "A lot of patients don't want to
be on antibiotics if there's a minimally invasive surgical option," says
Andrew Lane, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Sinus Center in
Baltimore, Md. The procedure also comes with a decent reimburse-
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