This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Olfaction and Taste Disorders  • Rehabilitation Medicine  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

One-Year Follow-up Study

Birgit Risberg-Berlin, SLP; Riitta Ylitalo Möller, MD, PhD; Caterina Finizia, MD, PhD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007;133(7):650-654.

Objective  To assess the long-term results of the nasal airflow-inducing maneuver in olfaction rehabilitation in patients who had undergone laryngectomy.

Design  Prospective interventional study.

Setting  University hospital.

Patients  Twenty-four patients who had undergone laryngectomy (21 men and 3 women; mean age, 68 years) who received olfactory rehabilitation with the nasal airflow-inducing maneuver were reevaluated 6 and 12 months after primary treatment.

Main Outcome Measure  Olfactory function was tested by means of a semistructured interview; the Questionnaire on Olfaction, Taste and Appetite; and the Scandinavian Odor-Identification Test. Quality of life was measured with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 and QLQ-H&N35 questionnaires. Patients were categorized as smellers or nonsmellers based on results of the Scandinavian Odor-Identification Test.

Results  Before treatment, 10 of 24 patients (42%) were smellers and 14 (58%) were nonsmellers. At 6-month follow-up, 20 of 23 patients (87%) were smellers, whereas after 12 months, 21 of 24 patients (88%) were smellers. Long-term olfaction rehabilitation was achieved in 11 of 14 patients (79%) with anosmia, and 15 of all 24 patients (63%) could be classified as having normal olfactory capacity at the end of the study.

Conclusion  The nasal airflow-inducing maneuver is a patient-friendly, inexpensive, and effective method for restoring the sense of smell in patients after laryngectomy, and the results persist in the long term.

Author Affiliations: Division of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden (Ms Risberg-Berlin); Department of Otolaryngology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden (Dr Ylitalo Möller); and Department of Otolaryngology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden (Dr Finizia).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Diaphragm pacing restores olfaction in tetraplegia
Adler et al.
Eur Respir J 2009;34:365-370.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT