2 research outputs found
Allergic rhinitis and aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease as predictors of the olfactory outcome after endoscopic sinus surgery
Background: Unlike the functional outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery,
which have been thoroughly studied, the effect of the surgery on
olfactory performance and the relative predictive factors have not been
adequately assessed by literature. Allergic rhinitis and
aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) are examined as potential
confounding factors of the olfactory outcome in patients with extensive
nasal polyposis and rhinosinusitis treated with functional endoscopic
sinus surgery (FESS).
Methods: A population of 116 adults With severe nasal polyposis was
subjected to FESS after failure of the appropriate medical treatment.
The olfactory Outcome was quantified by Sniffin’ Sticks at the 1st, 3rd,
and 6th postoperative month in relation to the concomitant presence of
allergic rhinitis (n = 62) or AERD (n = 18).
Results: Allergic patients seemed to perform worse than nonallergic
patients at all time frames. However, when patients with similar
olfactory acuity, age, and medical history are compared, allergic
rhinitis does not seem to affect the postoperative improvement of the
composite threshold-discrimination-identification scores. The same seems
to apply for the likelihood of acquiring normosmia after surgery. On the
contrary, AERD significantly limits the recovery of olfactory function
at all follow-up examinations and patients with AERD are unlikely to
become normosmic.
Conclusion: The olfactory recovery after FESS for nasal polyposis is
significantly affected by the concomitant presence of AERD. Although
allergy seems to have a general negative effect on olfactory acuity, it
was not found to affect the extent of the olfactory improvement, when
patients with comparable preoperative characteristics are addressed. (Am
J Rhinol Allergy 23, 348-353, 2009; doi: 10.2500/ajra.2009.23.3325