Orbital Complication of Balloon Sinuplasty

Abstract

Balloon sinuplasty (BS) is a relatively new conservative approach, first licensed for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis in 2006. The philosophy of the technique is to improve impaired sinus drainage by enlarging stenosed or obstructed natural sinus ostiums. The recent improvements in balloon sinuplasty made virtually all paranasal sinus ostiums to be safely accessible with this technique. Compared to classical endoscopic technique, the main advantage of balloon sinuplasty is the low complication rate reported. It is very seldom to encounter major complications related to critical structures such as orbits and skull base. Since its first description, very few severe complications directly attributable to the technique have been reported in literature as of today. In this article, we report a case of medial orbital wall fracture developed due to the pressure of the inflated balloon in a balloon sinuplasty procedure.