First Blog Post

Welcome to Raleigh ENT’s first blog post. We want to use this space to provide updates about our practice. Mostly I anticipate this will be in the form of clinical information. We are excited about the new additions to our website and want to be able to connect to our patients through a variety of ways.

The first topic is balloon sinuplasty. This is a relatively new tool we have to deal with chronic sinus infections. Through the years there have been important advances in the surgical treatment of sinus infections. In the 1980’s endoscopic surgery provided an enhanced view of the sinus passages and improved the accuracy of the procedure. In the 1990’s image guided techniques provided an intraoperative road map of the sinuses. This gives us anatomical detail on the order of several millimeters during a procedure and helps us to safely dissect within the sinus passages.

Balloon sinuplasty is another important advancement. The goal of sinus surgery is to improve the natural drainage pathways. A balloon is advanced over a guide wire into the offending sinus. The balloon is then inflated which safely and relatively atraumatically enlarges the natural opening. This is a similar concept to angioplasty to help relieve clogged arteries.

Our goal is to continually evaluate how we practice medicine. We are constantly learning new techniques and evaluating their role in treating disease. We look forward to passing along what we learn.