title: Medical treatment of traumatic anosmia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effects of zinc and steroid in the treatment of traumatic anosmia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, randomized study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Academic medical center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with a clear history of loss of smell after head injury and whose thresholds were -1 measured by the phenyl ethyl alcohol threshold test were included in this study from January 2010 to May 2013. They were randomly divided into 4 groups. Patients in group 1 were treated with zinc gluconate for a month and high-dose prednisolone with tapering for 2 weeks. Those in group 2 took only zinc gluconate, and those in group 3 took only prednisolone. Patients in group 4 did not take any medicine. All patients were followed up by phenyl ethyl alcohol threshold testing, and magnetic resonance imaging was performed to measure the volume of olfactory bulbs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-nine patients in group 1, 35 in group 2, 34 in group 3, and 37 in group 4 completed the study. The recovery of olfactory function was observed in 11 patients (28.2%) in group 1, in 9 (25.7%) in group 2, in 4 (11.8%) in group 3, and in 1 (2.7%) in group 4. The recovery rates of olfactory function of groups 1 and 2 were significantly higher than the recovery rate of group 4. The volume of olfactory bulbs was not significantly different between those with and without improved olfactory function.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show that zinc gluconate has a promising effect in treating traumatic anosmia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Rong-San
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Twu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan kellyliang1107@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kai-Li
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000150:complications; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005942:Gluconates / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult; D015032:Zinc / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D005942:Gluconates; D011239:Prednisolone; D015032:Zinc; C030691:gluconic acid
keywords: olfactory bulb; phenyl ethyl alcohol test; prednisolone; traumatic anosmia; zinc