Balloon Sinuplasty

There are many chronic sinusitis treatment options. For some patients a less invasive procedure, balloon sinuplasty, may be an option.

What is Balloon Sinuplasty?

Balloon sinuplasty (also known as BSP or balloon sinus-plasty) is a safe and effective method of treating chronic sinusitis using a small, flexible balloon catheter to dilate narrowed sinus openings. Once the catheter is in the proper position, the  balloon is gradually inflated to gently restructure and dilate the previously blocked sinus opening.

Benefits of Balloon Sinuplasty

There are several benefits to the balloon sinuplasty technique:

• Less invasive. No bone or tissue is removed with balloon dilation technique. This tends to contribute to minimized discomfort and bleeding after surgery and reduces the chances of post-operative scarring.
• Fast recovery. By avoiding disruption of the sinus skin lining (mucosa) the healing process is typically quite fast. Studies show that the majority of patients return to work and normal activities within 2 days.
• Available in an office setting. Some patients can have balloon sinuplasty performed with local anesthesia in an office setting. Depending on your insurance, this can allow for reduced overall costs by avoiding operating room and anesthesia fees.

Which sinuses can be treated with Balloon Sinuplasty?

Balloon sinuplasty can be used to dilate the frontal (forehead), maxillary (cheek) or sphenoid (in the back of the nasal cavity) sinuses.

How Balloon Sinuplasty is performed

The method by which balloon sinuplasty is performed is specific to each sinus. To provide more detailed information about how balloon dilation of the sinuses is done head over to the following pages which outline the techniques used to dilate the maxillary and frontal sinuses:

• Learn more about how Maxillary Balloon sinuplasty is used to open up the cheek sinus
• Learn more about how Frontal Balloon sinuplasty is used to open up the forehead sinus

Meet Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Lamperti

Dr. Lamperti, a Seattle rhinoplasty super-specialist, has devoted his career to treatments of the head, face and neck. He feels that by focusing his plastic surgery endeavors solely to the face he is best able to provide the excellent results his patients desire.

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