Overall, the vast majority of patients have significant improvement with the combination of surgery and continued medical management. As with all sinus surgery, it is possible that the sinus disease may not be cured by the operation, or that the disease may recur at a later time. If this should happen, further surgical therapy may be required.
Patients should realize that medical therapy is usually continued after surgery, especially if allergy or nasal polyps play a role in the sinus disease. This is necessary to prevent recurrence of disease and manage the medical aspects of the disease.
Surgery will not change a patient’s underlying immune system and the tendency toward inflammation. Patients may still have allergies and may still get viral infections, but hopefully these flare-ups will occur less frequently, be less severe, and will be easily treated with medications.