What a nasal polyp looks like

Dr. Thomas Lamperti shows what a nasal polyp looks like. He also discusses sinus surgery and septoplasty and how both can improve nasal blockage and sinus infections.

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Video transcript:

"This is Doctor Thomas Lamperti. I'm a facial plastic surgeon in Seattle. Today I'm going to show you what a nasal polyp looks like. Here we are entering the left side of the nose with an endoscope during surgery. On the left side you can see the patient's deviated nasal septum which is significantly blockage his nasal airway and causing quite a bit of nasal obstruction for the patient. Next you can see the middle turbinate coming into view. And as we move back further there is the nasal polyp itself. It is actually in the area where the cheek sinus would open up into the nose and you can see quite a bit of white drainage which is a sign of sinus infection. This patient had had prior antibiotics which didn't help his infection symptoms and he also had quite a bit of nasal blockage from the polyp itself also. This patient is about to have a septoplasty to straighten his septum and also functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). This involves removing the nasal polyps and also opening up the natural openings of the sinuses. This helps to prevent recurrent and chronic nasal infection and sinus infection."