Anesthesia in endoscopic sinus surgery

Successful administration of anesthesia in endoscopic sinus surgery is of critical importance for patient comfort, to reduce bleeding, and for procedure safety. However, surgeons are often reluctant to perform the procedure under local anesthesia with sedation. Over the past four years, patients undergoing ESS have been asked to complete a questionnaire to evaluate their anesthetic experience. A total of 111 completed questionnaires were returned for evaluation. The questionnaire evaluated subjective level of pain, nausea, vomiting, and overall unpleasantness of surgery on a 100 mm visual analog scale. The results from this survey indicate a high level of patient satisfaction with our current anesthetic techniques, while identifying issues with postoperative nausea and vomiting. The results of the survey and a review of the anesthetic issues involved in successfully performing endoscopic sinus surgery are discussed.