On 4/1/06 11:21 AM, in article 5e23b9d6c1525@uwe, "oksana" <u20362@uwe>
wrote:

This is a common procedure and quite safe. A trocar - like a large needle is
passed through the front of your maxillary sinus. This is placed well below
where your nerve is located. Through this trocar the telescope looks in and
sees the object and then a forceps under vision is used to remove it.

This operation sounds like a "Caldwell-Luc" procedure.  (You can search
Google to learn more about Caldwell-Luc.)  Most modern sinus surgery
today is endoscopic, done with an endoscope inserted into the nostrils.
 But when there's something on the far side of the maxillary sinus that
can't easily be reached from the nose, the older Caldwell-Luc procedure
may be done.  This almost happened to me--but my ENT was just barely
able to reach the problem endoscopically so I didn't need the
Caldwell-Luc after all.

Yes, there is some risk of nerve damage (numbness), but the risk of
permanent paralysis is very small if you have an experienced surgeon.
Make sure your surgeon has a lot of experience with Caldwell-Luc--it's
not done that often these days so not all surgeons have a lot of
experience with it.

If a biopsy reveals a malignancy (and chances are it isn't), then you
really must take that risk.  Otherwise it should be considered elective
surgery.

I think you should get a second opinion.  If it's not a malignancy,
another surgeon might be able to reach the maxillary endoscopically thru
the nose, if he's really an expert with using the endoscope like my own
ENT is.  For malignancy, Caldwell-Luc is actually preferred over
endoscopic, because with Caldwell-Luc it's easier for the surgeon to
clean out every last trace of the cancer.

Good luck.