Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS) for Mild-Sinusitis

[reb_1951]

(By the way, I am not Asthmetic, but this forum seemed the most relevant place to make this post...)

I have Chronic Sinusitis, without Nasal-Polyps. This diagnosis came after having a CT-sinus scan earlier this year. I was told from the CT that it is ‘Mild’ Sinusitis (which sounds about right, because the symptoms do not always bother me – the blocked-noses come and go – and luckily I don’t encounter headaches from it).

Specifically, it is my Ethmoid and Maxillary sinuses that are somewhat blocked (my Frontal sinuses appear normal) – according to my CT. I am 70 year old female by the way.

Because the CT has shown a clear diagnosable level of Sinusitis, I have been offered (by my NHS hospital) to have Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS) done, which I was told for me would be categorised as a ‘quality of life surgery’ (because it may improve my quality of life, but at the same time it’s not considered an essential op for me to have). By the way, conservative-treatments such as steroid-nasal-drops (Flixonase) do work on me but only temporarily for a few hours before I’m back to square one (hence why I’m hoping FESS might clear the need for these daily-treatments altogether). The option of macrolide-antibiotics is out of the question for me, as I have High Blood-Pressure.

And so that’s left me with a bit of a decision to make as to whether to go ahead with this FESS or not.

**These to me seem like the reasons to go ahead:

(1) It tempts me the possibility of being able to breathe normally again (i.e. without a blocked-nose). I do not have Asthma or any other breathing order thankfully, but nevertheless it would be nice to be able to breathe more easily again, especially as I get easily out of breath when walking (due to the High Blood Pressure).

(2) From what I’ve been reading on the internet, this operation is considered a relatively straightforward procedure (with low risk of complications), and it has a high patient satisfaction-rate (in the 80-90% range)

**These to me seem like the reasons NOT to go ahead:

(1) I’ve read in NHS literature out there that this FESS-operation carries the risk that it "..can cause a loss of sense of SMELL (permanently)". What’s not clear from the literature is the % of people this happens to (i.e. to how many patients out of 100 who also have Mild Sinusitis without Nasal Polyps). The risk of losing the ability to smell scares me – but not sure if this is a ‘theoretical’ risk that they have to mention, or whether it’s something that frequently happens to people undergoing this surgery (I couldn’t get a straight answer from my ENT-surgeon either). My sense of smell right now is fine by the way (i.e. it’s not been affected much by the Sinusitis I’ve experienced) – which makes me all the more uncertain of whether to go ahead with this possible-risk or not.

(2) Not really sure how difficult/painful the recovery-process will be.

And so I thought I’d reach out on this Forum to see if there’s any others who have been through the same boat of a FESS. Especially anyone in the same boat of having ‘Mild’ Sinusitis (whereby it’s not SO bothersome that it affects you every single day/week, but at the same time it does feel uncomfortable and makes exercise feel harder). Also would appreciate if you could answer:

(1) Was your ability-to-smell impacted long-term (either positively/negatively) by the FESS?

(2) Any tips/advice you would offer me for before/after the FESS to make the healing as optimal/easy as possible?

(3) Has the FESS made your ability to breathe (through the nose) SIGNIFICANTLY easier, or only marginally so? So do you personally feel overall it was worth all the difficulty of going through with this op?

[Leith24]

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is still a live request or not, or if you have made a decision?

I had the surgery October 2019. I do have asthma symptoms as well and had nasal polyps and completely full sinuses on CT scan.

The positives are I can now breathe through my nose and sleep, no loss of smell, not painful really, just uncomfortable for a while after (and the effects of anaesthetic coming out of system, e.g. very drowsy for a week or two and significant constipation).

Negatives are that my breathing generally is now "off" - I think because what I hadn't realised is that to open up the sinuses there was some shaving of bone...this means that there is much more air coming in than my lungs are expecting, but no physio offered or even suggested so I'm still trying to work it all out and self-support. I'm also trying to work out if there has been change to my facial structure (some sensation of dental changes but could be other reasons).

I wish I had known about the bone bits, I'm sure you can have just the soft tissue reduction without it. I would maybe have more questions with hindsight, but it was the best decision at the time.

[Kimbad1990 in reply to Leith24]

Hi,

I am just wondering how long the results of your CT scan took ?

[Leith24]

there's also another post her called Sinus surgety is it worth it from 1 year ago which has other peoples' views in it.