title: Taste disturbance after stapes surgery: an evaluation of frequency, severity, duration, and quality-of-life.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  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.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  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.
authors.affiliation: a Center for Clinical Research , Uppsala University , Västerås , Sweden.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Berling Holm
authors.affiliation: a Center for Clinical Research , Uppsala University , Västerås , Sweden.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knutsson
authors.affiliation: b ENT Department , Uppsala Academic Hospital, Uppsala University , Sweden.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Strömbäck
authors.affiliation: b ENT Department , Uppsala Academic Hospital, Uppsala University , Sweden.
authors.forename: Niklas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Danckwardt Lillieström
authors.affiliation: c ENT Department , Karolinska University Hospital , Stockholm , Sweden.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Papatziamos
authors.affiliation: a Center for Clinical Research , Uppsala University , Västerås , Sweden.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosenblad
authors.affiliation: a Center for Clinical Research , Uppsala University , Västerås , Sweden.|d Department of Otorhinolaryngology , Akershus University Hospital and University of Oslo , Norway.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Von Unge
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D013201:Stapes Surgery / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013651:Taste Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chorda tympani nerve; QoL; SF-36; otosclerosis; questionnaire; stapedotomy; taste