Olfaction and quality of life in patients with nasal septal deviation treated with septoplasty
Author links open overlay ,panel.KonstantinosValsamidisaAthanasiaPrintzaaKonstantinosTitelisbJannisConstantinidisaStefanosTriaridisa
a
1st Otolaryngology Department, Medical Dept, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
b
Otolaryngology Department, General Hospital Georgios Gennimatas, Ethnikis Amynis 41, 54635 Thessaloniki, Greece
Received 11 June 2019, Available online 16 July 2019.

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjoto.2019.07.008Get rights and content
Abstract
Objective
Patients with septal deviation-induced nasal obstruction may experience olfactory impairment. This study aimed to evaluate septoplasty-related changes in olfactory function and their effect on patients' quality of life (QoL).

Methods
Prospective study of sixty patients with nasal obstruction and septal deviation and 25 healthy controls. Objective measurements were performed for the evaluation of nasal patency and “Sniffin' sticks” tests were used for quantitative assessment of lateralized and bilateral olfactory performance. All participants self-assessed their smell using a visual analog scale and completed validated questionnaires for nasal obstruction (Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation: NOSE), for nasal symptoms QoL (SinoNasal Outcome Test-22: SNOT-22), for olfaction-associated QoL (Questionnaire of Olfactory Deficits: QOD) preoperatively and six months after septoplasty and reported personal benefit after surgery (Glasgow Benefit Inventory: GBI), six months postoperatively.

Results
Smell was significantly compromised due to septal deviation especially in the more obstructed nasal cavity side. Smell improved significantly after septoplasty (subjective report and olfactory measurements), along with increased nasal patency. Increased nasal cavity volume was significantly correlated with olfactory thresholds but not with suprathreshold measurements. Subjective hyposmia and lateralized olfaction were significantly reduced postoperatively. Postoperatively, normosmic patients reported higher personal benefit from surgery than patients with olfactory disorders. The patients' QoL improved significantly, but it remained lower than the controls' group. Olfaction-associated QoL was not significantly different between patients and controls before and after septoplasty.

Conclusion
Septoplasty leads to improvement in smell perception, and patients with improved smell report greater personal benefit from septoplasty than patients with remaining olfactory deficits.

Keywords
OlfactionSmellSeptoplastyQuality of lifeOlfactory disordersSniffin' sticksNasal airflow