Sinus Balloon Dilation

  Chronic sinusitis is a frequent disease in otorhinolaryngology. Patients often suffer from pus flow, nasal congestion, headache, and memory loss, which brings many inconveniences and impacts on life and work. Often due to narrowing or obstruction of the sinus opening, pus accumulates in the sinus cavity and is not easily discharged. The current treatment method is to surgically remove the mucous membrane and bone tissue around the sinus opening under the nasal endoscope and open the sinus to drain the accumulated pus. However, it is still difficult to avoid the disruption of anatomical structures caused by resection surgery, damage to the mucosa of the sinus drainage channels, postoperative traumatic edema and inflammation of the mucosa of the operative cavity, intraoperative bleeding that is difficult to control, medical injury caused by surgery, and postoperative scar formation. Therefore, excisional surgery is not the perfect surgical approach to sinus surgery. Sinus balloon dilation is a procedure in which a small, flexible balloon is inserted into the sinus passages and the expansion of the balloon is used to restore the inflamed or occluded passages to their original size or slightly larger, allowing air to enter the sinuses smoothly and pus to flow out through the open sinus openings without removing any tissue for treatment purposes.  In 2008, American doctors applied sinus balloon dilation to treat 1036 cases of chronic sinusitis, with no major adverse events related to the balloon catheter during and after the procedure, and 95.2% of patients had improvement in sinusitis symptoms. This confirmed the good efficacy and safety of balloon dilation.  The main clinical advantages of sinus balloon dilation include: 1. The balloon catheter dilation results in minimal trauma, minimal mucosal destruction, and almost no bleeding, thus minimizing the formation of adhesions and restenosis of the opening after surgery, and the number of postoperative debridements required is significantly reduced, which in turn improves the cure rate of chronic sinusitis; 2. Since the surgery only enlarges the corresponding sinus opening, it maximizes the preservation of the sinus The normal structure of the sinuses is preserved to the greatest extent, and there is no damage to the bones of the skull base and orbits, which is safe; 3. No postoperative cavity filling is required, postoperative medication is reduced, and hospitalization is shortened or not required.