If you're at the hospital, you can be asleep with anesthesia. In the doctor's office, you'll be awake with local anesthesia. When appropriate, your ENT may combine traditional endoscopic sinus surgery with ballooning of certain sinuses to have the best of both techniques.
Healthcare providers use general or local anesthesia when they do sinus surgery. General anesthesia means you're unconscious and don't feel any pain. People who have local anesthesia may feel pressure during surgery but typically don't feel any pain. They may have mild to moderate pain for about a week after surgery.
Endoscopic sinus surgery typically takes about two hours and does not require an overnight hospital stay. There is no swelling or bruising of the face as a result of surgery.
HOSPITAL STAY: Sinus surgery in children and adults is usually done as an out-patient and does not require an overnight hospital stay. On occasion, a patient may need to stay overnight. Check with your insurance company to see if this hospitalization is covered by your policy.
Sinus surgery is one that can be done under general or local anesthesia, and usually patients are fine to go home the same day. “In most cases, [nasal] packing is not needed, or absorbable packing can be used so you do not need to come back for packing removal after surgery.
Activity: Minimize your activities with only light activity for the first week following surgery. Listen to your body! If you feel tired over the first few days, you should rest.No nose blowing, stooping, straining or heavy lifting of more than two bags of groceries. Sneeze with your mouth open.
Sneezing can cause further trauma to the fragile, yet sensitive nose and compromise the procedure's results. If possible, avoid sneezing through your nose for the first week or two during recovery to reduce pressure in your nose and airways to keep the sutures intact and minimize bleeding, swelling, and pain.
Background: Nasal packing is routinely used after septoplasty because it is believed to decrease risk of postoperative bleeding, hematomas, and adhesions. Multiple studies have shown, however, that there are numerous complications associated with nasal packing.
Endoscopic sinus surgery, sometimes called functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) is a minimally invasive procedure to treat problems in the sinuses.
An IV will be started and you will go to sleep once in the OR by medicine given through the vein. A breathing tube will then be placed through the mouth. During surgery the patient will be kept completely asleep by breathing gas through this tube under the supervision of an anesthesiologist.
At about three weeks they can often feel about the way they did before surgery, and then we hope that that improvement continues and they steadily feel better afterwards. The healing from sinus surgery, meaning the recovery back to normal, can take weeks to months.
In the presence of a sinus infection, there is a small risk of developing a more complicated infection like an abscess or meningitis. All operations in the sinuses and nose carry a rare chance (about 0.1%) of creating a leak of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). CSF is the fluid that surrounds the brain.
You will probably be able to return to work or school in about 1 week and to your normal routine in about 3 weeks. But this varies with your job and the extent of your surgery. Most people feel normal in 1 to 2 months. You will have to visit your doctor regularly for 3 to 4 months after your surgery.
Orbital involvement in endoscopic sinus surgery occurs in 0.5%64 to 3% of all procedures, and represents 16% to 50% of all complications. Most common risks encountered in endoscopic sinus surgery include bleeding, infection, injury to the eye and its adnexa, cerebrospinal fluid leak, anosmia etc.
The swelling of the internal lining inside the nose caused due to crying can also damage or in severe cases burst the stitches. This is why it is advised to avoid crying for a few weeks after getting a rhinoplasty till the stitches heal to avoid any serious damage or irritation to the surgical site.
With a 90% success rate since the 1950s, FESS surgery is a safe method to relieve chronic rhinosinusitis. However small, FESS surgery poses possible risks. For example, a chance of infection at the surgery site, bleeding, numbness or swelling.
People who have chronic sinusitis that has not responded well to medication and other conservative treatments are good candidates for this procedure.
Recovery from sinus surgery depends on your health and which procedure you have, but most people need to be away from work or school for several days. And you may need several weeks to heal completely. Be sure to talk to your doctor, so you understand how best to care for yourself after surgery.
There will be associated nasal crusting, moderate tenderness and swelling (congestion). 3. Nausea and even vomiting following general anesthesia is not uncommon.
You may have some swelling of your nose, upper lip, or cheeks, or around your eyes. Your nose may be sore and will bleed. You may feel "stuffed up" like you have a bad head cold. This will last for several days after surgery.
Bathing may be resumed three days postoperatively but if there is splint or cast it must not get wet. The day after surgery a soft normal diet may be resumed. It is extremely important that the inside of your nose is moist and humidified after nasal surgery to prevent crusting and recurrent symptoms.
You will have to sleep with your head elevated for 24-48 hours after surgery to help the bleeding slow down and help the swelling resolve. Prior to surgery, set up your bed with at least two pillows so you can prop your head up at night.
Do not lie flat. Raise your head with two or three pillows. This can reduce swelling. Try to sleep on your back for the month after surgery.
It is normal to have impaired mucociliary clearance after any nasal/sinus surgery. Despite cleansing and antibiotics, infections may occur. However, in the patients with unusual distress, complaints of insufficient air, being unable to breathe – consider ENS – Empty Nose Syndrome.