Page 30 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2017

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NO MORE RUNNY NOSE story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photos by John Stricklin
Local Balloon Sinuplasty pioneer debuts new concept
Dr. Raymond Weiss is considered to be one of the pioneers of his field, and for good reason. Balloon Sinuplasty, a procedure that enlarges the sinus opening using a small balloon, has become a standard of care within the past decade. Prior to the development of Balloon Sinuplasty, the process of dealing with the effects of chronic sinusitis and permanently improving sinus drainage was much more invasive, requiring more drastic measures to reshape the sinus cavity. After the process was developed,
Dr. Weiss became the second doctor to perform the procedure. At this stage, he remains the longest actively practicing Balloon Sinuplasty surgeon in the world.
As with any new innovation,
Dr. Weiss and others who were developing the procedure were met with some resistance. “What was different about this process was
that it wasn’t in line with any of
the things we’d done before in ENT (otorhinolaryngology, or an acronym for ears, nose and throat),” he said. “This was totally transformational, and if you totally break the paradigm that can be hard for people to accept.”
For ENT professionals, the development of a new method of
care posed both an opportunity and
a challenge. “Many times physicians are concerned by the introduction of a new device or procedure, and they’ll fight tooth and nail because they don’t want to have to start over and potentially not be at the same level of experience they were at before,” Dr. Weiss said.
30 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • March 2017
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