Taste disturbance after stapes surgery: an evaluation of frequency, severity, duration, and quality-of-life

Abstract

Conclusion: The incidence of taste disturbance after stapes surgery is high (61.9%), whereas the majority (94.8%) recovers within 1 year. More severe surgical nerve trauma caused more disturbance, implying that the nerve should be handled carefully during surgery.

Objectives: Patients operated on for otosclerosis seem more often to complain about post-operative taste disturbance than those operated on for chronic otitis media, although the chorda tympani nerve more seldom becomes maltreated in stapedotomy. These observations seem paradoxical. It is unclear to what extent a post-operative taste disturbance affects the quality-of-life. This study aims to shed light on the occurrence of post-operative taste disturbances, on possible prognostic factors, and to what extent post-operative taste disturbance impairs the quality-of-life.

Methods: One hundred and thirty-four adults undergoing primary stapedotomy were included. Questionnaires on taste disturbance and quality-of-life (SF-36) were answered before and after surgery, until 1 year post-operatively.

Results: Eighty-three (61.9%) study persons reported post-operative taste disturbance. Seven (5.2%) reported persisting disturbance at 1 year. Surgically more traumatized chorda tympani nerves correlated with more severe taste disturbance post-operatively than less traumatized. Taste disturbance at 1 year post-operatively correlate with a decrease of the physical function domain in the SF-36.

Keywords:

• Chorda tympani nerve
• otosclerosis
• stapedotomy
• taste
• questionnaire
• QoL
• SF-36

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the staff members at the ENT departments at Västmanlands Hospital Västerås, Uppsala University Hospital and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, for their assistance in including study persons and collecting data.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Funding

This study has been funded by The Regional Research Council of Uppsala – Örebro, Sweden, Västmanlands County Council Research Foundation, Sweden and the Centre for Clinical Research, Västerås, Uppsala University, Sweden.