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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Sinusitis / January 2006Balloon Sinuplasty
Has anyone tried balloon sinuplasty? It recently became available. A ballon catheter is inserted into the nostrils and inflated to widen the ostia. I have an appointment with Dr. Perter Hwang at the Standford Sinus Center Jan 23 to see I'm a candidate. Has anyone here seen Dr. Hwang? For more information, go to acclarent.com which also lists the physicians qualified to do this procedure. > Has anyone tried balloon sinuplasty? It recently became available. A > ballon catheter is inserted into the nostrils and inflated to widen the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > For more information, go to acclarent.com which also lists the > physicians qualified to do this procedure. I have seen Dr Peter Hwang. He returned to practice at Stanford earlier this year. I was very impressed by him. I have not had the procedure you are asking about done. Dr Hwang was very familiar with the Hydropulse and said that for me daily saline irrigations were a must if I was to avoid surgery. He also taught me a lot about using intranasal Bactroban. AW Thanks for your reply AW and your endorsement of Dr. Hwang. Do you take intranasal Bactroban only when you have an infection or as a prophylactic during flu season? > Thanks for your reply AW and your endorsement of Dr. Hwang. Do you take > intranasal Bactroban only when you have an infection or as a > prophylactic during flu season? Only when I am absolutely sure I have a sinus infection. Never prophylactic. Intranasal Bactroban was suggested to me because of my history of staph related problems. YMMV from mine. AW Do you mind telling me how were you diagnosed with staph? What does YMMV mean? > Do you mind telling me how were you diagnosed with staph? What does > YMMV mean? Staph germs, which are ubiquitious in our environment, can become colonized in the nose where they can either live with no bad effects or cause various kinds of skin problems and also contribute to some sinus infections. I have a history of staph related skin problems. YMMV means Your Mileage or experiences May Vary from mine - because I didn't want to imply that intranasal Bactroban was appropriate for all suspected sinus infections. It's my understanding that most people have a variety of germs colonized in their nose which may or may not cause illness. I was also told that my nose is colonized with pseudomonas which as far as I know hasn't caused me any problems. AW Recently??? I had this done numerous times almost 10 years ago!! It worked for a while, maybe 3 months, then back to the same old, same old. BR >> Has anyone tried balloon sinuplasty? It recently became available. A >> ballon catheter is inserted into the nostrils and inflated to widen the [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > surgery. > He also taught me a lot about using intranasal Bactroban. AW > Has anyone tried balloon sinuplasty? It recently became available. A > ballon catheter is inserted into the nostrils and inflated to widen the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > For more information, go to acclarent.com which also lists the > physicians qualified to do this procedure. I understand how this is supposed to work, but I don't understand what the point is, for many patients. Many patients with sinusitis (myself included) have a deviated septum and also diseased and thickened sinus linings, all of which have to be dealt with surgically anyway. So as long as the surgeon is doing surgery on my septum and sinuses, widening out the ostia is just one small part of it. In my most recent surgery, the culprit was a pus-filled mucocele in one of my left ethmoids. Just widening out the ostia wouldn't have gotten rid of that thing. Is there any evidence that just widening out the ostia causes everything else in the sinuses to magically cure itself?  SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. Steven, I have the same question as you, which I'll pose to Dr. Hwang. Clearly, not everyone is a candidate for balloon sinoplasty. My understanding so far is that in some cases, simply widening the ostia will allow drainage so bacteria and fungi do not have the opportunity to proliferate. Then, if the lining isn't that badly damaged, it will heal on its own. I wish I had more information at this time, but will write back with the result of my appointment. There is a bit more information on the medical provider tab of the acclarent.com website and a video. > Steven, > I have the same question as you, which I'll pose to Dr. Hwang. Clearly, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > proliferate. Then, if the lining isn't that badly damaged, it will heal > on its own. If so, that's definitely not my situation. I have had cysts and pus-filled mucoceles growing inside sinuses *after* the ostia were widened surgically. This balloon sinuplasty sounds like a procedure just for very mild sinusitis--the next step up from Sudafed. Ask Dr. Hwang if they are trying it out on severe sinusitis patients or just mild cases. SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. >I understand how this is supposed to work, >but I don't understand what the point is, for many patients. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >Is there any evidence that just widening out the ostia causes everything >else in the sinuses to magically cure itself? Well I think that widening the ostia is often the primary surgical procedure performed, and often does allow the sinuses to recover with the better air flow. I am sure that conventional surgery will still have a role, even if the new procedure (which is really just in trial phase) does become common. Here's one article: http://www.newsdial.com/sinusitis/balloon-sinuplasty.html Dr. Hwang's office told me that the trials have been completed, but not published yet. >>I understand how this is supposed to work, >>but I don't understand what the point is, for many patients. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > performed, and often does allow the sinuses to recover with the better air > flow. You think it will largely eliminate the need for septoplasty? SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. >> Well I think that widening the ostia is often the primary surgical procedure >> performed, and often does allow the sinuses to recover with the better air >> flow. > >You think it will largely eliminate the need for septoplasty? That will probably still be required in its present form. I know that septoplasty is often needed, but it is not always needed. Maybe the best way to think of the new tool, hype aside, will be as just another variation of surgical instrumentation,. for use often in combination with others. The are already a number of them and innovations will keep occurring....... >>I understand how this is supposed to work, >>but I don't understand what the point is, for many patients. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > performed, and often does allow the sinuses to recover with the better air > flow. You think it will largely eliminate the need for septoplasty? My sinusitis is very asymmetric--it's always much worse on my left side--reflecting how my septum was originally deviated. And as I said, I had to have revision surgery because the surgeon of my first surgery thought that the ostia to one of my ethmoids was wide enough. So he left that ethmoid alone, resulting in my having to have a revision surgery to remove the mucocele that was growing inside there. Sorry, I don't buy this whole thing, based on my own experience. This "balloon sinuplasty" looks to be a great way for patients to end up having revision surgeries to fix all the things that the balloon sinuplasty didn't fix. SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. Here is an update on my visit with Dr. Hwang at Stanford. He said my case was too complicated to do the balloon sinuplasty. He only recommends it to patients who have blockages in the maxillary, sphenoid and frontal sinuses--the sinuses which have a single ostia. Those that have multiple openings--the ethymoid--cannot be treated as effectively with the balloon. I also have haller cells, a maxillary cyst, and a deviated septum that needs correction. I was disappointed, but appreciated his kind and through explaination of the procedure and so have decided to have him do my surgery in three weeks. > >I understand how this is supposed to work, > >but I don't understand what the point is, for many patients. [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > http://www.newsdial.com/sinusitis/balloon-sinuplasty.html >Here is an update on my visit with Dr. Hwang at Stanford. He said my >case was too complicated to do the balloon sinuplasty. He only [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >appreciated his kind and through explaination of the procedure and so >have decided to have him do my surgery in three weeks. Thanks for posting the information. He sounds to be a good bet to do your surgery. Peopel who are so proficient with surgery that they are refining the state of the art are the kind of people I would want to do surgery (provide they are nto experimenting too much, but this does not sound to be a risk here)..... Your welcome. Thanks for your take on my doctor's proficiency. To be honest, I didn't check him out throughly, just went with the reputation of Stanford (he's the director of the sinus clinic) and a few mentions on this forum. In my state (New Mexico) I was going to have to go out of state anyway.
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