There are instances when antibiotics, nasal sprays, nasal flushing, decongestants, and antihistamines prescribed by an eyes ears nose throat specialist to treat sinusitis problems won’t just work at all. There are times that no matter what approach patients and physicians use to end problems involving the sinuses; nothing would seam to work at all. When there seam to be no cure to sinus problems surgery becomes the last resort.

During the early 20th century, when surgery is suggested to fix sinus problems, patient gets so alarmed. During these times, nasal surgery means that the surgeon needs to perform an invasive procedure wherein the sinuses are reached through the cheek area. The procedure would often result to unwanted scars and possible defacement. But with the advances in the medicine today, concerns related to scarring are eliminated.

Before performing any surgery a doctors will need to obtain a thorough clinical history of the patient first. You need to understand that the only way to properly diagnose the under lying cause of the sinusitis, may it be chronic or acute is obtained only through a diagnostic workup. This may require a computed tomography of the sinus or more commonly known as CT scan, smell testing, and series of blood tests to be able to determine the exact operative strategy that registered professionals may need to apply.

Options on sinus surgery include:

FESS or the Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery. This method was first developed in the year 1950s. This procedure involves a use of an endoscope. In a functional endoscopic sinus surgery, a very thin fiber-optic tube called an endoscope is inserted in to the nose to provide clear visualization of the openings in to the sinuses, thus, will aid doctor to visualize the possible cause of sinusitis. With the use of a high tech micro-telescopes and instruments, abnormal and obstructive tissues are removed. Majority of the cases of FESS are manipulated through the nose, thus, no external scars are formed. However, the patient may still experience the swelling and discomfort but only to a minimal extent. One advantage of this type of surgery is that, it is less extensive. Removal of normal tissues is kept minimal, and it can even be performed on an out-patient basis. Ten days after the operation, the patient will be required to perform nasal flushing to avoid formation of crusts.

Image Guided Surgery. Image guided surgery is recommended only in severe forms of chronic sinusitis. This type of surgery combines a near-three-dimensional mapping of a CT scan and real time information with regards to where the exact locations of the instruments are. This is made possible through the use of infrared signals. Through this method, surgeons can easily navigate their instruments through the sinus’s complex passages, thus will also prevent unwanted damage to nearby tissues.

Caldwell Luc operation. This is another option for sinus surgery which alleviates chronic sinusitis by improving the drainage of the maxillary sinus. The drainage is improved by creating a "window" to connect the maxillary sinus to the nose.