A new clinical study demonstrated that the Vent-Os Sinus Dilation System can unblock sinus passages using osmosis and maintain them for at least a year, resolving the debilitating symptoms of sinusitis.
The study was presented Saturday at the Annual Meeting of the American Rhinologic Society in Orlando, Florida. The Vent-Os procedure, developed by SinuSys Corporation, is designed to easily and comfortably treat sinusitis in a doctor’s office without surgery or repeated rounds of potentially harmful antibiotics and steroids.
The clinical study encompassed 34 sinusitis patients that were treated at five sites. At one year, 93 percent of sinuses were visibly clear and functional in the 27 patients available for evaluation.
The FDA-cleared Vent-Os procedure is typically performed in a doctor’s office under topical or local anesthesia. It incorporates proprietary osmotic technology into a tiny capsule – the size of a grain of rice – which is inserted into the sinus opening and absorbs the body’s natural fluids to slowly expand over approximately 60 minutes. After expansion, the capsule is gently removed and the patient is free to leave immediately.
"Opening up the sinus passage is an important factor in reducing or eliminating the often debilitating symptoms of sinusitis," said Peter J. Catalano, MD, FACS, Chief of Otolaryngology, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Boston, MA, and a clinical investigator for the study.
"The Vent-Os procedure could be an ideal option for sinusitis sufferers whose symptoms are not severe enough to warrant surgery but who suffer the poor quality of life and health risks associated with repetitive or failed use of antibiotics and steroids."
Affecting 31 million Americans each year, sinusitis is more prevalent than heart disease and asthma, and has a greater impact on patients’ quality of life than chronic back pain or congestive heart failure. The often debilitating symptoms include severe facial pain, pressure and swelling, headache, congestion, dental pain, dizziness, sore throat and fatigue.
Image: The Vent-Os Sinus Dilation System is a new treatment performed in the doctor’s office for the 31 million Americans suffering from sinusitis. Photo: courtesy of Business Wire.
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