March 1, 2023

PROPEL Implant

Sinusitis affects one in eight adults every year, making it one of the most common health conditions in America. If you are one of those unlucky people, you know how significantly sinusitis can reduce your quality of life.

The discomfort from this frustrating disease can cause you to lose sleep, miss work, affect your sense of smell and taste, and generally make activities that you love less enjoyable.

Fortunately, there are solutions for chronic sinusitis, including functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) or Sinuplasty to open your blocked sinus passages. Occasionally, surgery doesn’t open the sinuses quite as much as they should. This can result in complications like scars, growth of new polyps, or infection from non-absorbable stents. That’s where the PROPEL sinus implant comes in. If your doctor recommends FESS for you, they can add the PROPEL sinus implant to further improve the procedure’s results.

What is PROPEL?

The PROPEL sinus implant is a spring-like device with a lattice structure made of a synthetic bioabsorbable copolymer. Its innovative 2-in-1 mechanism opens the sinuses while delivering mometasone furoate, an anti-inflammatory medication, to the sinus passages over 30 days. Mometasone furoate is a potent and targeted corticosteroid. Mometasone furoate was selected for use in PROPEL implants for its optimal sinonasal drug characteristics including its ability to readily absorb into the sinus tissue, its high glucocorticoid receptor affinity, and its ability to minimize systemic effects. The PROPEL implant delivers the medication so it is absorbed into your tissue without causing the effects often observed with the use of other sinus medications.

Once it’s been placed inside your sinus, it dissolves within 30 to 45 days, so your doctor doesn’t have to remove it. While it’s still inside your sinus, it helps maintain the opening created by your doctor.

The PROPEL sinus implant, which was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in August 2011, is the only sinus surgery product clinically proven to improve the outcomes of sinus surgery through level 1-a evidence (systematic review or meta-analysis of all relevant randomized controlled trials or evidence-based clinical practice guidelines).

The PROPEL family of implants includes three options for ENT doctors for optimal results depending on the specific area of the sinus that needs attention.

If you're preparing for sinus surgery or managing recurring inflammation, chat with us to find a sinus specialist near you who uses Propel implants and can explain how they could support your recovery.

How Does PROPEL Work?

Each PROPEL stent includes a 2-in-1 mechanism that opens your sinus while directly delivering a steroid medication to the sinus tissue.

If your doctor evaluates you for chronic sinusitis and conservative medication fails, they may recommend surgery. Doctors usually perform FESS in a hospital or an outpatient surgery center, typically while you are under general anesthesia. They will begin by inserting an endoscope (a small tube with a camera attached) into your nostril to get a better view of your inflamed nasal tissue. They will then use precision surgical tools to open your blocked sinuses and clean out any infection, working through your nostril to improve the inflamed tissue. This allows your sinuses to drain and air to flow more effectively.

At the end of the FESS procedure, your surgeon will insert the dissolvable PROPEL stent into your sinus which will prop it open so air can circulate and mucus can drain. It will also release medication directly into the sinus tissues where it’s needed to speed healing and prevent scarring.

A simple way to understand how the PROPEL implant works, know that it opens, delivers, dissolves, maintains, and eases:

Opens: The PROPEL implant keeps the sinus open after the surgery is performed to allow improved breathing and drainage.

Delivers: The PROPEL stent delivers anti-inflammatory medication directly to the sinus tissue.

Dissolves: The device dissolves within 30-45 days of the procedure, or can be removed at any time.

Maintains: The PROPEL device helps ensure that future sinus surgeries will not be necessary for the patient by maintaining the results of the procedure.

Eases: The PROPEL implant is small and lightweight and typically cannot be felt once inserted. It eases the sometimes debilitating symptoms of chronic sinusitis.

How Does it Help with Chronic Sinusitis?

Your sinuses are air-filled, interconnected cavities in the bones around your nose and eyes. They produce mucus, allow it to drain, and let air flow through.

As air travels through your sinuses to your lungs, the mucus traps harmful particles, like dust and bacteria, and then drains out of your nose. If your sinuses are swollen, they may become blocked, filled with fluid, and not drain properly. You will also be susceptible to miserable sinus infections.

Sinusitis is incredibly common and monthly medication costs can be very expensive. It affects approximately 14% of the adult U.S. population each year including 17% of women and 10% of men. Direct healthcare expenditures due to sinusitis are up to $8 billion each year. This sometimes-debilitating condition also causes people’s activities to be restricted by a total of more than 73 million days each year.

Sinusitis is defined as chronic if your symptoms persist for three or more months. Chronic sinusitis is the 5th most common condition treated with antibiotics. It accounts for a jaw-dropping 18-22 million physician visits each year costing between $3.4 and 5 billion.

While surgery can be beneficial if medications do not work, inflammation and scarring can make it less effective or cause your symptoms to return. PROPEL, placed at the time of surgery, reduces inflammation and scarring. This decreases the need for additional surgeries or to take oral steroids which can have adverse side effects.

How Do I Know If I Am a Good Candidate for PROPEL?

The PROPEL stent could be helpful for you if you are 18 or older and your doctor recommends FESS because:

• You have chronic sinusitis that has lasted more than three months.
• You get little or no relief from traditional treatments such as nasal steroids, antihistamines, and decongestants.
• You have had four or more episodes of acute sinusitis in one year.
• You have a history of nasal polyps.

The PROPEL implant for sinuses is unsuitable if you are allergic to the drug mometasone furoate or certain polymers. In addition, the safety and effectiveness of the PROPEL implant have not been studied in women who are pregnant or nursing.

How Long Does PROPEL Last?

The PROPEL implant will deliver the medication to your sinuses for up to 30 days. The mometasone furoate was detectable in the sinus tissue for approximately 60 days. Because the PROPEL implant slowly dissolves in your nose within about 30 to 45 days, your physician won’t have to remove it. However, they can choose to do so at any time.

What are the Benefits of PROPEL?

PROPEL is meant to be an adjunct to FESS. It is lightweight so you won’t be able to feel it once it’s in place. More than 400,000 people have undergone successful PROPEL stent placement.

In addition to helping to open your sinuses, PROPEL stents can have these benefits:

• Less scarring - Reduce scarring in your healing sinus by 70%.
• Fewer surgical interventions - Reduce the need for your doctor to perform any post-surgery interventions and/or for you to have to take oral steroid medications by 35%.
• Fewer polyps - PROPEL reduced the formation of polyps (noncancerous growths) by 46%.
• Fewer oral steroids - PROPEL reduced the need for oral steroids by 40% on day 30 after surgery.
• Less need for additional medical treatments - Patients with and without nasal polyps had less need for post-surgery medical treatments.

What are the Risks and Side Effects of PROPEL?

Over 40,000 people have been treated with the PROPEL sinus implant, and clinical evidence has found it to be a safe medical intervention. However, as with any medical procedure or medication, there are some risks and side effects.

They may include:

• Pain or pressure
• The PROPEL implant may move either in or outside your sinus
• Infection
• Headache
• Continued sinusitis
• Nose bleeding or drainage
• Discomfort
• In rare instances, sinus surgery may present a risk of toxic shock syndrome

Following the PROPEL implant procedure, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics and pain medications. They may ask you to irrigate your sinuses several times a day with an over-the-counter saline based sinus rinse.

They may also:

• Recommend you sleep with your head elevated to 30 degrees to reduce swelling and bleeding.
• Advise you not to blow your nose.
• Advise you not to bend over, lift heavy objects, or exert yourself for one to two weeks after your surgery.
• Instruct you to keep your mouth open if you sneeze or cough and avoid squeezing or pinching your nose.
• Inform you that as PROPEL dissolves, you may see thin, white fragments come out of your nose. This is normal.

PROPEL Yourself to Healthier Sinuses

Chronic sinusitis can make you truly miserable, but you don’t have to suffer! If you have been diagnosed with chronic sinusitis and your doctor recommends FESS, ask them about the PROPEL sinus implant. PROPEL can help you heal and prevent the need for further surgeries.