Nasal sinus surgery

One of the most important things our nose does is to moisten and heat the air we breathe. This makes the fluid dynamics in the nose very important. Even small disruptions in the flow of breath can make nasal breathing impossible and cause inflammations. This can be the cause of a chronic nasal sinus disease (chronic sinusitis).

Swelling in the mucous membranes can also lead to blockage of the outlets in the nasal sinuses. This means that inflammatory secretions can no longer flow out unimpeded and this causes the swelling to increase even more. This starts a cycle that can only be broken with difficulty.

The causes of such a chronic sinus inflammation are often anatomical in nature. They include, among others, irregular curvature in the nasal septum and very enlarged nasal conchas. Even inflamed dental roots can cause a chronic inflammation.

Before an effective treatment can proceed, the cause of the inflammation must first be identified. To this end the practice of Dr. Bodlaj has highly modern equipment and is numbered among the most modern ENT-practices in Europe.

For example, Dr. Bodlaj was one of the first doctors in Germany to rely on the new procedure of video nasopharyngoscopy, in which a safe and completely pain-free diagnosis is possible by means of a micro-camera. Additionally, our practice has a 3D DVT for showing the minutest structures of the nasal sinuses and a high-performance ultrasound device.

Asthma and allergy patients are afflicted by chronic sinusitis especially often. Around 40-60% of all patients with chronic sinus inflammation evince an allergy that can be treated appropriately.

This is why our practice is one of the few ENT-specialist practices in Germany has its own allergy laboratory. This makes it possible to identify up to 650 different allergens based on a single blood sample of IgE-antibodies.

Depending on the findings made, an individual treatment can be initiated. Dr. Bodlaj begins every course of treatment with medication with the goal of restoring the function of the mucous membranes. Only when all attempts of this kind fail is surgery of the nasal sinuses even considered. Such interventions are carried out in our practice with minimally invasive surgery.

In Dr. Bodlaj’s practice, a nasal operation without packing is possible. As a rule, this makes the intervention painless and complication-free for the patient. In order to be able to carry out a nasal sinus operation in this way, our practice has here equipment that is state of the art in modern medical technology.

For the reduction of the nasal concha, Dr. Bodlaj uses the most modern laser surgical techniques or radio-frequency treatment. Such an isolated reduction of the nasal concha can then be done on an out-patient basis or under local anaesthetic.

We can even correct deviated nasal septums without packing. The highly modern, head-worn Leica surgical microscope is employed for this procedure, which is now available in only a few ENT-clinics in Germany.

In the field of sinus surgery, Dr. Bodlaj is one of the first three doctors in German who has relied on balloon sinuplasty since 2007 to treat chronic sinus inflammations.

In all surgical procedures, Dr. Bodlaj pays especial attention to maintaining the function of the nose and its structures. In contrast to conventional surgical procedures, the occurrence of side effects in these minimally invasive procedures is very small. Conventional surgical procedures can, through a generous reduction of the nasal conchas, cause an Empty Nose Syndrome (ENS) and thus a dry nose in 5% of cases.

For maximum safety of our patients, a special navigation system developed for sinus surgeries has been used in our practice since 2010. This nearly excludes dangerous complications. The operator knows, like in a car’s navigation system, precisely where he is inside the sinuses. It is therefore possible to assure the highest possible degree of safety and comfort precisely in surgical revisions or in difficult polyposis surgeries.