ENT Doctor Capable of Combining Sinus Surgery with Rhinoplasty?

Endoscopic sinus surgery is one of the ENT procedures I still perform with regularity. This may be performed at the same time as Rhinoplasty Surgery. I have a few comments based on your question:

Make sure you truly need sinus surgery. I have never operated on "hypoplastic sinus cavities". Your sinus cavities are very close to your eyes and your brain, so large cavities are safer to operate on. If your nose and sinuses are filled with polyps that are obstructing your breathing, then you may need to have this addressed. The report of your sinus CT scan should describe abnormalities other than hypoplastic sinus cavities which I consider a normal anatomic variant.

The only negative of combining the 2 procedures is operating time. The sinus surgery would be performed first, and that takes around 2 hours or longer depending on your condition. Rhinoplasty surgery typically takes me between 1.5-2 hours. Also, if you have infection in your sinuses, I would not suggest performing both at the same time.

Lastly, make sure your ENT does lots of nose jobs. Ask to see many photos before proceeding.

I hope this is helpful for you.

A simple answer is "yes' the two surgeries can be performed at once.  However, I would first analyze your need for sinus surgery, because I am more in line with Dr. Joseph's thinking.  If you truly have hypoplastic sinuses, the sinus surgery required tends to be more involved with drilling of bone etc.  The recovery from this type of surgery is also more complicated.  Secondly, do you really need sinus surgery?  In my opinion, sinus surgery should be more a procedure of last resort than an answer to garden variety sinusitis.  Lastly, does your Doctor do a lot of Rhinoplasty?  Making a choice on Rhinoplasty surgeon should be more involved than combining two procedures for the sake of convenience.  Rhinoplasty is the most complicated of aesthetic procedures and requires a high degree of skill and experience. 

Hi,

Yes, many ENT surgeons are well trained in both sinus surgery as well as rhinoplasty.  Not all ENTs are experienced in both so you must choose your surgeon most carefully.  It is okay to have both procedures during the same operation only if there is no infection present in the sinuses.  Good luck and be well.

Dr. P

As long as there is no infection present the two can be combined. ENT surgeons are fully trained in rhinoplasty, but look at the surgeon's cosmetic results to make sure he is skilled in what you like cosmetically.

Please consult a surgeon who is board certified both in Facial Plastic Surgery and Ear Nose & Throat/Otolaryngology.  For your best result you will need someone with lots of experience in performing both rhinoplasty and sinus surgery. They both can be performed at the same time under most conditions. I have been doing both operations for 25 years and wrote one of the first book chapters on how to do that.