In a preliminary study, doctors are trying out a balloon device to end mysteriously intractable sinus infections.
The procedure is a bit like a de-narrowing angioplasty to open up the sinuses. A new surgical treatment lets doctors use a balloon to sneak into the nasal cavity of patients with chronic sinusitis, dilating the sinus passages and helping patients breathe more often and with less pain than standard sinus surgery. Each year, 350,000 Americans undergo sinus surgery.
Sinusitis is an inflammation or infection of the sinus drainage ducts located around the nose and eyes, which are only about the thickness of a straw pole. Sinusitis can cause swelling and facial pain, a debilitating headache, and sometimes pus-like material blocking the nasal passages.
Colds and allergies can trigger acute sinusitis, which usually clears up within a month. However, more than 30 million Americans suffer from chronic sinusitis with symptoms lasting more than 2 months and recurring frequently. Patients repeatedly use antimicrobials, decongestants, or hormone-containing nasal sprays, but 1 in 4 patients recover poorly.
This is a vicious cycle. Each infection makes the already tiny sinus openings narrower. Then, the next cold and allergy attack, which causes nasal congestion and blocks normal sinus drainage, will stimulate another infection.
In some severe cases of sinusitis, doctors use special instruments to penetrate deep into the nasal cavity and widen the sinus openings by removing infected tissue and bone. This procedure is effective in 20% of patients, but it needs to be done frequently and is painful, causing a week of swelling in the nasal cavity and crusty tissue that can block the sinuses.
This new balloon device penetrates deep into the same part of the nasal cavity without cutting, simply expanding the balloon and allowing the sinus opening to return to its original size, or larger, allowing air to enter the sinuses to help the antimicrobial agents eventually eliminate the infection and end the cycle of sinus inflammation.