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Anesthesia Protocol

An excellent anesthesia protocol is the MOST important aspect of a procedure. At Nevada Sinus Relief, it is a priority to provide our patients with a pleasant experience during his or her procedure. We have developed an anesthesia protocol to deliver excellent local anesthesia for all sinus and nasal cases. In fact, Dr. Sikand was invited to publish and describe his anesthesia techniques in the widely circulated publication “Techniques in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery”. Since then, he has further refined this technique to provide optimal comfort and safety during all procedures.

” I had sinus surgery in the office twice because of nasal polyps that keep coming back. Only injections were done the first time. I definitely felt those and had some minor pain during the surgery. The second time, I felt nothing since Dr. Sikand used the numbing gel. It was much better this go around.” – Marilyn B.

Before Arriving to the Office

  • Review the pre-operative handout given to you when scheduling your procedure.
  • Eat a light meal before taking any pre-operative medications.
  • Wear loose comfortable clothing. It can feel cold in the procedure room, so we suggest wearing long sleeves, pants instead of shorts or you may bring a small blanket to keep you warm.
  • Two and a half hours before arrival, take 50mg of Benadryl. This is over-the-counter and comes in 25 mg tablets. This can help prevent nausea. Benadryl can make you sleepy. In some cases, Dr. Sikand may prescribe an anti-nausea medicine such as Zofran (ondesetran) instead of the Benadryl.
  • Two hours prior to the procedure, a short acting Valium-like medicine called lorazepam is taken. This medication can cause drowsiness. Therefore, someone should drive you to and from the office.  It is recommended that a family or friend member take you home.

What Happens During the Numbing Process?

Our anesthesia protocol has allowed us to perform over a thousand sinus procedures in the office successfully and comfortably for our patients. You may be awake during the procedure depending on how you react to the medications taken beforehand. We do not use IV sedation or general anesthesia. Often, patients fall asleep from the lorazepam and Benadryl. In addition, the usual side effects of general anesthesia including nausea, vomiting, and discomfort from IV’s do not occur.

  • The first phase of the anesthesia involves spraying a topical anesthetic mist in the nose.
  • Next, a specially-developed anesthesia gel is spread over the nasal tissue. This gel is similar to the topical numbing gel that is used at a dentist’s office.
  • After that, small pledgets (a small wad of absorbent cotton) may be placed near the sinus openings. These pledgets have a different type of numbing medicine coating them.
  • Once those are placed, a small amount of local anesthesia will be injected. This results in numbness of the sinus cavities. Other structures including the turbinates and nasal septum will be numb. Patients do not feel the injections because the area is already numb from the anesthetic gel.

This protocol typically takes 15-20 minutes.

Numbing Gel

How Long Do the Numbing Medications Last?

The anesthetics can cause temporary numbness in the mouth including the roof of the mouth and teeth. A sensation that something stuck in your throat when swallowing can occur. These sensations typically last about 1-3 hours. Eating popsicles or sucking on ice chips to melt in the mouth can help soothe the throat until normal swallowing returns. Avoid food and beverages until this feeling goes away.

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