Your child’s physician may use an endoscope, or a thin, flexible tube with a light and camera, to take a closer look at the sinuses or nasal passages. An endoscopic procedure can be done in the physician’s office and can show, in detail, whether your child has an obstruction or growth or what could be causing bleeding and swelling of the nasal tissue. Or, if he or she is using an endoscope to look at the larynx or vocal cords, this is called a laryngoscopy.

In other cases, endoscopy is used to perform surgery. Endoscopic sinus surgery, for example, is usually used to treat recurring or chronic sinusitis when medical treatment has not helped.

By making small cuts in the nose and sinuses to allow the endoscope to pass, your child’s surgeon can then use tiny tools attached to the endoscope to remove pieces of bone or tissue that may be blocking the sinus openings.

Other procedures using endoscopic surgery include the removal of adenoids, the removal of growths, masses or polyps, or the correcting of some other issue your child may be having.