An image of the view provided by the endoscope is contained in the image-guided surgery section of this web site. Surgery is typically done using either local or general anesthesia. When general anesthesia is given, the patient is unable to breathe for themselves, and a tube must be put into the airway to allow the anesthesiologist to breathe for the patient. When I had my surgery, I had local anesthesia, and did not remember anything during the procedure except for a few seconds when I was vaguely aware of something going on around me. I was drowsy for several hours afterwards and was not fully awake until the next morning.
Many surgeons prefer to use local anesthesia if it is possible.
Image-guided surgery, discussed elsewhere in this site, may be helpful in situations where complications might otherwise occur because of difficulty with recognizing the usual anatomy. Such is common in the case of frontal sinus disease, or in patients who need to be re-operated. After surgery is done, you will typically be carefully followed over 4-8 weeks, to make sure that there is no scarring. Crusting will be removed, which can at times be somewhat painful. Many surgeons find that they do not have to use packing after surgery, and consequently reduce the amount of pain with postoperative care.