Surgeons from several states will have the opportunity to learn new skills this weekend during the Second Annual Nebraska Endoscopic Surgery Course, which is focused on sinus surgery.
The course, to be led by Donald Leopold, M.D., will take place today and Saturday at UNMC. 
“We will be teaching techniques of sinus surgery that may be new to many local surgeons, and most involve powered instrumentation,” said Dr. Leopold, professor and chairman of the UNMC department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. “There have been changes to the protocols of which sinuses are opened and how they’re opened. The powered instruments have allowed us to be gentler with the patient, and we’ve found ways to open the nasal and sinus airways so they can function in a natural manner.”
Four medical-school residents from UNMC have signed up for the course, as have 10 surgeons from Illinois, South Dakota, Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.
During the course’s first two hours, Dr. Leopold will perform a sinus surgery in a campus operating room. The surgery will be broadcast to the course’s participants, who will be seated in a lecture hall on the UNMC campus. Those surgeons and residents, in turn, will have the opportunity to interact with Dr. Leopold during the surgery.
“It’s very uncommon to have live surgery at a course such as this,” Dr. Leopold said. “The interactive nature of this surgery provides a valuable opportunity for the participants to understand the new techniques and to better utilize the tools that we will be using.”
The course’s participants also will take part in several lectures. Much of their afternoon will be devoted to hands-on learning, using human cadavers. Donations from instrument and drug companies have allowed nine mini-operating areas to be equipped for the hands-on learning.
Dr. Leopold conducted similar workshops while he was on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Nasal and sinus experts who are assisting Dr. Leopold include Peter J. Wormald, M.D., of Adelaide, Australia, and Bruce Jafek, M.D., of Colorado. Local assistants include Stanley Schack, M.D., and Sande Bartels, M.D. Dr. Wormald will perform a demonstration dissection during the course.
More than 37 million Americans suffer from chronic sinusitis, defined as four or more sinus infections in a year, making it the most persistent chronic medical condition affecting Americans. February has been designated as Sinus Pain Awareness Month by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
“Sinus problems are a major factor in health care today,” Dr. Leopold said. “Research shows that people with chronic sinusitis report more pain, depression and fatigue in their lives than do patients with angina, chronic heart disease or back pain.
“Surgical procedure advances, and sharing those advances with as many surgeons as possible, are key to alleviating the suffering and pain of many Americans.”