Olfactory rehabilitation in laryngectomized patients: nasal airflow inducing maneuver

Main Article Content

Romina Ovalle A.
Sebastián Sánchez J.
Alfredo Urrutia F.
Jaime Osorio M.

Keywords

Total laryngectomy, anosmia, hyposmia, rehabilitation, smell

Abstract

Introduction: Total laryngectomy (TL) has as a consequence the loss of voice, but another not studied consequence is the loss of smell. Aim: To demonstrate that the “nasal airflow in- ducing maneuver” (NAIM) rehabilitates smell in patients with TL. Material and Method: A quasi-experimental before-after study in laryngectomized patients for laryngeal cancer from the Otorhinolaryngology Service (ENT) of the Barros Luco Trudeau Hospital (BLTH) at Santiago, Chile. Evaluation through survey, physical examination, nasofibroscopy and olfactory test. Patients with transmission impairment of smell were enrolled and NAIM was performed. Results: 12 patients were studied: 10 men, 2 women. Average age 66.3 years. All self-supporting. 66.6% presented anosmia and 33.3% hyposmia. They all managed to perform the maneuver. Post-rehabilitation, 100% presented the presence of smell assessed by olfactometry. Intervened population similar to other series in terms of sex and age. Eso- phageal speech facilitates NAIM rehabilitation. Rehabilitation of smell was achieved in all of them and in parallel, the sense of taste improved. Conclusion: NAIM is a simple, cheap and affordable technique to rehabilitate the sense of smell in laryngectomized patients.

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