Abstract
Objectives: In patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS),
olfactory dysfunction (OD) is a common complaint. The focus of this
research was to evaluate the effectiveness of olfactory training (OT) in
patients with CRS after sinonasal surgery.
Design : Prospective controlled trial.
Participants: We enrolled 111 Korean CRS patients who underwent
sinonasal surgery.
Main Outcome Measures: At baseline and three months after
starting OT, both participants were assessed by an olfactory function
test and endoscopy. The Korean version of the Sniffin’ stick II
(KVSS-II) was used to perform the olfactory function test. A visual
analog scale and the Mini-Mental State Examination were used to assess
nasal and psychological functions. Over the course of three months, five
odorants were used in OT (rose, lemon, cinnamon, orange, and peach).
Results: Over a 12-week duration, OT increased olfactory
activity in nearly 62 percent of subjects than in non-OT subjects. The
OT group had significantly higher olfactory outcomes for the total
KVSS-II and identification scores than the non-OT group between the
initial and follow-up assessments. The initial score influenced the
degree of olfactory improvement after OT.
Conclusions: OT patients exhibited significantly higher total
KVSS-II scores compared with non-OT patients after sinonasal surgery; in
particular, the odor identification score was different between the two
groups. The results of this study show that a 12-week period of repeated
short-term exposure to various odors could be useful in enhancing
olfactory activity in patients who underwent sinonasal surgery for the
improvement of sensory-neural olfactory impairment.