The sinuses (sinus)

The sinuses (sinus) are the four air-filled spaces around the nasal cavity called the Paranasal sinuses. All four sinuses are drained through the nose by natural mechanism, if the mucus fails to drain or the sinuses are obstructed, this may cause sinusitis affecting the respiratory system and sense of smell.
Today, there is a surgery that treats serious sinus conditions and helps reduce its recurrence. This is called the Innovative Full House Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). It is a minimally invasive technique performed through the use of an endoscopic camera.

Understand what causes sinusitis?
As mentioned above, there are four pairs of sinuses around the nasal cavity. These are the maxillary sinus, the ethmoid sinus, the frontal sinus, and the sphenoid sinus.

The cause of sinusitis is usually by the following main reasons:
• The sinus drainage holes are unable to drain mucous leading to build up and blockage. When they become blocked and filled with fluid, germs can grow and cause an infection.
• The microscopic hair cells called cilia in the nasal cavity do not function well, making it unable to drain the germs and pus from the sinus cavity.

When the sinuses are unable to drain mucus due to an infection, this condition causes the mucus and other fluid, including pus to buildup which may result in sinus disease. Inflammation in the sinus can cause symptoms such as swelling, stuffed nose, thick mucus within the nose or throat, reduced sense of smell and pain around the eyes, cheeks, nose or forehead. In cases where these symptoms develop quickly over a few days and lasts over a short time is considered acute sinusitis. Most cases of acute sinusitis can be relieved with the proper home treatments and in some cases prescribed antibiotic therapy if acute bacterial sinusitis is suspected. If the signs and symptoms become persistent or last longer than 8 or 12 weeks, this will develop into Chronic Sinusitis. Because the position of sinuses is located near the eyes and brain, it is possible for some patients to have severe complications, such as vision problems when the infection spreads into the eye socket which can cause reduced vision or even blindness, meningitis where infection causes inflammation of the membranes and fluid surrounding the brain.

Chronic sinusitis and acute sinusitis have similar signs and symptoms. Patients may have nasal inflammation, nasal congestion, runny nose with discolored postnasal drainage (whitish to yellowish or green mucus) and some patients may also have bad breath. The signs and symptoms of chronic sinusitis last at least 3 months, but you may have several episodes of acute sinusitis before developing into chronic sinusitis.

Sinusitis treatment
Treatments for Sinusitis include:
• Taking antibiotics
The doctor will prescribe antibiotics that kill the bacteria that cause the disease. Your doctor may collect the pus for testing to determine the type of pathogenic bacteria and whether it will respond well to medication.
• Inhalation of steroids
The use of steroid inhalers can reduce inflammation as well. The latest inhalers are safe and have no side effects on the body. However, research has shown that nebulization does not allow the drug to reach the sinus cavity. Recent research published in the journal Cochrane Review found that steroids will be effective when the drug can reach the sinus cavity.
• Sinus surgery
Sinus surgery is recommended if you have chronic sinus inflammation or a chronic sinus infection that doesn’t improve with medical treatments, such as antibiotics and medications. Surgery is done to restore how your sinuses work or function.

Sinus surgery through Innovative Full House FESS
The International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology Journal has published a research on the new understanding on the disease process of chronic sinusitis paving the way for new treatment development bringing about the Functional endoscopic sinus surgery innovation also known as Innovative Full House FESS. This new operation technique opens all Paranasal sinuses to fix the obstruction of the sinus passages to promote drainage, improve nasal ventilation and restore the physiological function of the nose and sinuses.

This innovation makes use of an endoscopic camera technology, which has been developed to deliver razor-sharp image quality similar to High-Definition Television system (HDTV) and precision cutting instruments (forceps and microdebrider).
During FESS, the surgeon inserts the endoscope into the nasal cavity through a nostril that relays pictures of the nasal obstructions. With this technique the surgeon will use these images to navigate the instruments to reposition or remove nasal tissue or polyps that are interfering with proper nasal drainage, reducing surgery complications. Most postoperative patients experience advantages such as no outward scarring of nose, less post-surgical bleeding & tissue removal, minimal pain with long lasting results over the traditional sinus surgeries in the past.