Question 1

Are there any risks / side effects associated with Sinus Surgery?

admin · Accepted Answer

All operations carry some element of risk in the form of possible side effects. These are the potential risks that you must know about before giving consent to Sinus Surgery, however many of these potential complications are very uncommon.

You should always discuss with your surgeon about the likelihood of problems in your case before you decide to go ahead with the operation.

Bleeding
Bleeding is a risk of any operation. It is very common for small amounts of bleeding to come from the nose in the days following the operation. Major bleeding is extremely uncommon and it is very rare for a transfusion to be required.

Eye Problems
The sinuses are very close to the wall of the eye socket. Sometimes minor bleeding can occur into the eye socket and this is usually noticed as some bruising around the eye. This usually gets better without any special treatment, although it is important that you do not blow your nose.

More serious bleeding into the eye socket sometimes can occur, however this is very rare. This can cause severe swelling of the eye and can even cause double vision or in very rare cases loss of sight. If such a serious eye complication did occur you would be seen by an eye specialist and may require further operations.

Spinal Fluid Leak
The sinuses are very close to the bone at the base of the brain. All sinus operations carry a small risk of damage to this thin bone with leakage of fluid from around the brain into the nose, or other related injuries. If this rare complication does happen you will have to stay in hospital longer and may require another operation to stop the leak. On very rare occasions infection has spread from the sinuses into the spinal fluid causing meningitis but this is extremely uncommon.

You can discuss this complication with your surgeon before the operation.
How often do complications happen?In general, complications are very rare. In a survey of all ENT surgeons who do this type of operation in England, minor eye complications happened in one in every five hundred operations and spinal fluid leaks happened in onecase in every thousand operations, so the risks are small.

Question 2

Are there any risks / side effects associated with Sinus Surgery?

admin · Accepted Answer

All operations carry some element of risk in the form of possible side effects. These are the potential risks that you must know about before giving consent to Sinus Surgery, however many of these potential complications are very uncommon.

You should always discuss with your surgeon about the likelihood of problems in your case before you decide to go ahead with the operation.

Bleeding
Bleeding is a risk of any operation. It is very common for small amounts of bleeding to come from the nose in the days following the operation. Major bleeding is extremely uncommon and it is very rare for a transfusion to be required.

Eye Problems
The sinuses are very close to the wall of the eye socket. Sometimes minor bleeding can occur into the eye socket and this is usually noticed as some bruising around the eye. This usually gets better without any special treatment, although it is important that you do not blow your nose.

More serious bleeding into the eye socket sometimes can occur, however this is very rare. This can cause severe swelling of the eye and can even cause double vision or in very rare cases loss of sight. If such a serious eye complication did occur you would be seen by an eye specialist and may require further operations.

Spinal Fluid Leak
The sinuses are very close to the bone at the base of the brain. All sinus operations carry a small risk of damage to this thin bone with leakage of fluid from around the brain into the nose, or other related injuries. If this rare complication does happen you will have to stay in hospital longer and may require another operation to stop the leak. On very rare occasions infection has spread from the sinuses into the spinal fluid causing meningitis but this is extremely uncommon.

You can discuss this complication with your surgeon before the operation.
How often do complications happen?In general, complications are very rare. In a survey of all ENT surgeons who do this type of operation in England, minor eye complications happened in one in every five hundred operations and spinal fluid leaks happened in onecase in every thousand operations, so the risks are small.