Minimally invasive balloon procedure for sinus issues

Battling a sinus infection is bad enough, but contending with chronic sinus infections can be a real problem.

Staying on antibiotics isn’t good for the body, leaving patients with limited options. For those people, an office-based procedure that doesn’t involve any cutting may be just what the doctor ordered.

For going on forty years, Virginia Williams battled one sinus infection after another.

“So, the fatigue that comes with chronic pain is pretty debilitating,” she said.

For the last two years, the pressure in her head was unrelenting.

“It was like every month and a half, a different antibiotic, nothing was working, and I still persisted with the headaches,” Williams said.

Her issue, while severe, is something doctors see quite often.

Naples ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Matthew Connor deals with these chronic cases.

“Our concern is that their sinuses are not properly draining, and they become clogged in a way, and that predisposes them to get these chronic or recurring infections, and in some people, chronic science infections can develop into severe infections that may involve their eye or their brain,” Connor said.

In the past, doctors often opted for surgery to clear out troublesome cavities. Now, there’s a less invasive procedure called balloon sinus dilation that does the same thing.

“We’ve been able to bring that same technology that we that we use in the operating room, and put it in the in the office, so we can be very precise and accurate with the balloon, within one millimeter of accuracy,” Connor said.

This is the balloon. It sits on the tip of a catheter, sliding into the nose and inflating with saline to open the space. Doctors can insert another tool to clean out any stagnant infection.

“The research is very supportive of that, of being able to open up those sinuses; people are not only going to help get over their sinus infection they’re currently dealing with, but also help prevent future infections from forming,” Connor said.

Williams underwent the balloon procedure in September.

“I haven’t had any sinus headaches since then,” Williams said.

Spending less than an hour in the office cleared up years and years of suffering.

Because this doesn’t involve any incisions, patients are awake with a numbing agent, like the kind you might get at the dentist, and there is no downtime for recovery.