Press Date: 05/21/2010

Click here to view the 10tv story.

More than 37 million Americans struggle with the misery of sinus problems, and an OhioHealth doctor is testing a new procedure that could put an end to their suffering.

Barney Butler was going to see his doctor after a lifetime of sinus pain, 10TV's Andrea Cambern reported on Friday.

"I get the pain so bad over my left eye," Butler said. "You just want to lay down. And that doesn't even help."

Dr. Boris Karanfilov, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Dublin Methodist Hospital, has seen the pain of too many patients.

"Ohio is considered the sinus belt," Karanfilov said. "We have seasonal changes and multiple allergens that contribute to problems, sinus problems."

Karanfilov said he thinks that he can put an end to those problems for many people with a procedure called balloon sinuplasty, Cambern reported.

After Butler was anesthetized, the doctor inserted a long, lighted catheter into his sinuses. At the end is a tiny balloon.

"You place the balloon across the blocked sinus opening, inflate the balloon, and that allows the sinus to drain and function normally," Karanfilov said.

It is a version of the way heart doctors open blocked arteries.

"That's how the technology came to be; it was borrowed from our friends in cardiovascular medicine," Karanfilov said.

Karanfilov pioneered the technique five years ago in the operating room and is now one of three doctors nationwide to test it in an office setting, Cambern reported.

"For properly selected patients, we've found that an office based procedure is as effective as a procedure in the operating room," Karanfilov said. "A permanent fix for many patients."