Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeries|ENT Surgeries|Maple Grove

Ear Surgeries:

Outer Ear:

Otoplasty This is often done to make protruding ears smaller or more normal in appearance or to make the ears more symmetrical.

Reconstructive Surgeries on the Outer Ear. Occasionally an outer ear needs to be created or significantly changed, if a person was born without an outer ear or if the ear had to be removed for any reason, such as cancer, infection, or trauma.

Tympanic Membrane (Eardrum), Middle Ear, & Mastoid:

Myringotomy with PE Tube making a hole in the eardrum to drain fluid/infection and let air in through the tube.

Tympanoplasty-- repairing the eardrum, usually with a tissue graft that is placed under or on top of a hole in the eardrum.

Tympanoplasty with Ossiculoplasty

Stapedectomy--removing a fixed (stuck) stapes bone and reconnecting the inner ear to the other ear bones, usually using a wire or piston.

Mastoidectomy-- cleaning diseased bone from behind and around the ear

Inner Ear:

Labyrinthectomy-- to destroy the inner ear in situations where the inner ear cannot hear and there is chronic dizziness.

Endolymphatic Sac Decompression -- Removing bone from the surface of the endolymphatic sac, which is situated in the dura (the tough tissue) that covers the brain just behind the inner ear in the back part of the mastoid

Retrolabyrinthine:

Vestibular Nerve Section -- to cut the nerve to the balance parts of the inner ear in the canal behind the inner ear, sparing the hearing nerve and the nerve to the face that goes through the canal, too.

Facial Nerve:

Facial Nerve Decompression is removing bone from the surface of the facial nerve, the nerve that makes your facial muscles work. This nerve has the longest path through bone of any nerve in the body.

Removal of Facial Nerve Tumors and other tumors

Nose & Sinus Surgeries:

Septoplasty-- straightening out the cartilage and bone on inside if the nose

Septorhinoplasty-- making the outside of the nose straighter and more cosmetically pleasing as well as straightening out the inside of the nose.

Functional Endoscopic Surgeries of the Sinuses-- Using small lit telescopes for light and guidance, diseased and/or infected tissues are removed from these sinuses:

Dacrocystorhinostomy-- opening the sac/duct from the eye to the nose to get the tear ducts to drain into the nose better.

Nasal Polypectomy-- to remove polyps from the nose and sinuses. Avoid aspirin and yellow dyes to decrease the chance of polyps growing back.

Surgeries of the Face:

Laser Facial Resurfacing-- to even out the skin surface using the laser. The outer layer(s) of the skin are removed and the skin regrows, leaving a smoother surface.

Mouth & Oropharynx Surgeries:

LAUP-- Laser Assisted UvuloPalatoplasty--removal of a portion of the edge of the palate and the uvula, sometimes in several stages, to decrease the amount of "floppy" tissue that vibrates as one snores

Uvulopalatoplasty-- removal of a portion of the palate and lateral pharyngeal soft tissues to decrease the upper pharyngeal obstruction in a person with sleep apnea.

Esophagoscopic Stapling of Zenker's Diverticulum- stapling and cutting the wall between the Zenker's pouch and the esophagus through the throat, with no outside incisions. See www.laparoscopy.com for pictures of this procedure.

Removal of Salivary Glands & Tumors-- usually done for non-cancerous lumps. These surgeries often require identifying nerves to the facial muscles that go through or very close to these glands. Damage to any of these nerve branches can result in weakness of part or all of one side of the face.

Throat Surgeries:

Laryngectomy, Total or Partial--removal of all or part of the voice box, usually for cancer. Small tumors can now be removed using the laser, without neck incisions. Patients can learn to talk if the voice box ix totally removed. Ask your otolaryngologist to outline the different procedures.

Arytenoidectomy--Laser removal of the arytenoid cartilage and sometimes part of a nonfunctioning vocal cord in a patient with a paralyzed vocal cord(s) to create a safe, more open airway

Removal of Cysts and Masses Many of these are from abnormal development of the neck tissues before birth.

Thyroid Surgery Removal of cancerous or noncancerous masses from the thyroid gland. Nerves to the voice box are very close to parts of the thyroid glands and voice problems and/or airway problems can develop if one of these nerves is damaged.

Cancer Surgery--Cancers can occur in the neck, either in lymph nodes or in other tissues of the neck. They often are associated with cancers in the throat. It is very important to get a good examination of the insode of the throat if a mass is present in the neck and it is to be removed.

Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgeries