"Sinusitis", which is well known in adults, is an important disease frequently encountered in children, but it can often be overlooked and neglected. Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Specialist Op.Dr. Bahadır Baykal gave important information about sinusitis in children.
The infection that occurs with the inflammation of the air spaces (sinuses) located between the facial bones is called 'sinusitis'. There are two types of sinusitis, acute and chronic (chronic). In acute sinusitis; nasal congestion, yellow, green or bloody nasal discharge, pain around the eyes, face or headache that increases with leaning forward, and symptoms of fever. In chronic sinusitis, dark nasal discharge, nasal discharge, nasal congestion and a localized headache are more common than these symptoms. A sinusitis that lasts longer than three months means that it has become chronic.
People with nasal congestion are at risk. The crooked or broken nasal bone, excessive growth of the nasal concha, and the presence of polyps make the person more susceptible to sinusitis. Sinusitis is also common in allergy sufferers. If a cold or flu lasts for more than a week in a person, this is most likely sinusitis. We definitely do not recommend traveling by plane, especially when there is a mild cold flu, conditions that cause pressure changes in this way facilitate the development of sinusitis. It is a factor that facilitates smoking.
Children may have sinusitis. Although the symptoms vary according to the age of the child, we rarely see headaches in children under the age of 5 years. In older children, headache is more common in sinusitis. Especially in children who have night coughs, nasal discharge and bad breath, if there is a runny nose that lasts longer than 10 days, the possibility of sinusitis should be considered. Along with coughing, there is also yellow and green nasal discharge. In sinusitis, there may be bad breath due to nasal discharge. The person usually thinks that he has a taste of rust on his tongue, and does not notice the bad breath unless someone else tells him.
The first choice in the treatment of sinusitis is drug therapy. For this purpose, antibiotics, drugs that reduce the runny nose and swelling of the tissues in the nose (decongestants) and drugs that clean the upper respiratory tract and reduce the dark secretions here are used together. It should not be forgotten that the inflammation spreads to the eye and can cause serious damage to the eye when it develops. In this case, you should definitely take your child to the ENT doctor immediately. This situation is valid for adults. Antibiotic treatment should be applied for 7-10 days in patients with dark-colored nasal discharge, high fever and severe headache for more than 14 days.
Op.Dr.Bahadır Baykal said, “Unless complications develop in acute sinusitis, surgery is rarely needed. If the person has not benefited from long-term medication and his sinusitis has become chronic, surgery should be considered as an alternative method. If the patient, whose chronic sinusitis is evaluated by tomography, has nasal bone curvature, nasal growth or polyp, these should be treated together with sinusitis.
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