Nasal Endoscopy

During a nasal endoscopy procedure, the ear, nose and throat physician inserts the instrument into your nose and guides it through your sinus and nasal passages as they view the images of the area they’re examining. The procedure helps with diagnosing and treating different health conditions. Sometimes, the physician may use small tools to perform certain tasks like gathering tiny tissue samples.

A nasal endoscope is an instrument that consists of a rigid, thin tube with fiber-optic cables. It connects to a video camera and light source where magnified images project onto a screen. The otolaryngologist then captures and records the endoscopic images to document for each patient.

Nasal endoscopy indications may include:

  • Identifying disease in patients who are suffering from sinonasal symptoms, like facial pressure or pain, mucopurulent drainage, decreased sense of smell or nasal congestion or obstruction.    
  • Evaluating unilateral disease.    
  • Evaluating the medical treatment response in patients such as purulent secretions, inflammation and mucosal edema or resolution of polyps after treatment with antibiotics, antihistamines, oral steroids or topical nasal steroids.    
  • Evaluating patients with impending complications or complications of sinusitis.    
  • Debridging and removing mucus, crust and fibrin from blocked sinus and nasal cavities following functional endoscopic sinus surgery.    
  • Obtaining a purulent secretion culture.    
  • Evaluating potential pathology recurrence after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS).    
  • Evaluating the nasopharynx for Eustachian tube problems, lymphoid hyperplasia and nasal blockage.    
  • Evaluating anosmia or hyposmia.    
  • Evaluating cerebrospinal fluid leak (CSF).    
  • Evaluating and treating nasal foreign bodies.    
  • Evaluating and treating epistaxis.

USES OF A NASAL ENDOSCOPY PROCEDURE

  • Nasal blockage    
  • Nasal congestion    
  • Nosebleeds    
  • Nasal polyps    
  • Rhinosinusitis (sinus and nasal infection)    
  • Nasal tumors    
  • Cerebrospinal fluid leak    
  • Loss of ability to smell

The doctor may obtain specific details from the endoscopy such as the area of swelling of nasal tissue or bleeding. They may also take a look at a growth which could be cancer.
Sometimes, the physician may use nasal endoscopy as a treatment. They could use it on a child to remove something from their nose, for example.
They may perform an endoscopy to observe a sinus or nose problem treatment to see how it’s working — shrinking of nasal polyps, for example.

OTHER NASAL ENDOSCOPY USES

One of the most common uses for having a nasal endoscopy procedure done is rhinosinusitis. You might experience symptoms like facial pain, nasal blockage and greenish or yellow nose fluid. The doctor can use nasal endoscopy to check for polyps and swelling. They may gather pus from an infected area which will help them determine what the infection cause is and what treatment is best.

Doctor may perform minimally invasive surgery using a nasal endoscope. With this procedure, they use it to treat conditions like nasal polyps, sinus infection and nasal tumors.