Question: I have deviated nasal septum besides a crooked nose with a minor sinus infection and had septoplasty to correct it. Nothing changed after I had treatment for a crooked nose, and sinus infection got worse from then. Will a septorhinoplasty help solve my problem? Is it safe to perform surgery again?
Answer:
Thanks for your question.
First of all, while revision surgery is quite common and may solve your problem, one should try to find out why the surgery didn’t help in the first place before having another procedure.
The septum is a dividing wall that separates the nasal airway into to separate passageways. While the septum is never completely straight, the septum can be “deviated” or twisted enough to block the flow of air through one – (if the septum is over to one side)- or through both passages (if the septum has a shape like the letter S). Straightening the septum should be expected to improve breathing through the nose, but sinus infections usually will need to be further treated – either through opening the sinuses wider, or finding out the cause of the infections and treating them medically. Fixing a crooked nose requires breaking the bones of the nose- or rhinoplasty- and is a cosmetic procedure to improve the appearance of the nose. This can be done at the time of septoplasty and/or sinus surgery- or sometimes alone. I am not sure what problems you were having before and are continuing to have.
But, we frequently are called on to treat patients who have had nasal or sinus surgery before that did not fix their problem. Usually, that is because the problem causing the symptoms was not accurately identified, and less common because the surgical results were not as successful as we’d like.
Before I would say to have the procedure repeated, I would suggest having another opinion- certainly something we do a lot of here at the NY Sinus Center.
If revision sinus or rhinoplastic surgery is needed, we have significant experience in helping.
Robert Pincus MD
Co-Director NY Sinus Center
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Frequently Asked Questions
A deviated nasal septum is when the wall that divides the nasal airway is twisted or displaced to one side, which can block airflow through one or both nasal passages. This can cause difficulty breathing through the nose. Straightening the septum through surgery usually improves nasal airflow but may not resolve sinus infections.
No, septoplasty mainly corrects the nasal septum to improve airflow and breathing. Sinus infections usually require additional treatment, such as medications or surgery to widen the sinus openings. Septoplasty alone may not resolve underlying sinus infection issues.
Septoplasty is a surgical procedure to straighten the nasal septum to improve breathing, while rhinoplasty involves reshaping or breaking the nasal bones for cosmetic reasons to improve the nose's appearance. Rhinoplasty can be performed simultaneously with septoplasty but serves mostly aesthetic purposes.
Revision septorhinoplasty is generally safe and quite common, but it's important to understand why the initial surgery was unsuccessful before proceeding. Patients should seek a thorough evaluation and possibly a second opinion to identify any missed causes before undergoing repeat surgery.
Surgery might fail because the original problem was not correctly identified, or because the surgical results were suboptimal. In some cases, less common factors such as complex anatomy or persistent infections may contribute to ongoing symptoms.
If symptoms continue, patients should seek further evaluation, preferably a second opinion from a sinus specialist, to reassess the cause of their symptoms. Additional treatments, whether surgical or medical, might be necessary based on the new findings.
