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Olfactory and gustatory functions after free flap reconstruction and radiotherapy for oral and pharyngeal cancer: a prospective follow-up study

  • Head and Neck
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

The senses of smell and taste can be adversely affected by both tumour- and treatment-related factors amongst head and neck cancer patients. The consequences may negatively impact nutritional status as well as quality of life in this patient population.

Patients and methods

This prospective longitudinal follow-up study is consisted of 44 patients treated for oral cavity, oropharyngeal or hypopharyngeal cancer with tumour resection and microvascular free tissue transfer reconstruction at the Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. Thirty-nine (89%) of them also received radiotherapy. The senses of smell (odour detection, identification and threshold test) and taste (electrogustometry) and quality of life (UW-QOL) were evaluated preoperatively, and at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months, postoperatively.

Results

There were higher scores in the odour detection values in the 6-week and 3-month tests compared with preoperative values for the tumour side. Other detection scores did not differ statistically from the preoperative values neither in the tumour nor the contralateral side. However, in the odour identification test, all posttreatment values were statistically significantly higher than pretreatment ones. In the olfactory threshold test, no statistically significant differences were found between pre- and posttreatment values. Electrogustometry values for the taste on the tumour side were statistically significantly impaired at 6 weeks (p < 0.05) and at 3 months (p < 0.01) compared with the pretreatment results. They were also impaired at 6 months and at 12 months, although the differences were not statistically significant. The quality of life was impaired after treatment in this patient series. However, the correlation between quality of life and sense of taste was found only at one time point (3 months) and only with contralateral side measurements.

Conclusions

We conclude that in oral and pharyngeal cancer patients the postoperative taste problems are related to the impairment on the taste sensation in the tongue but not with the sense of smell. Moreover, the impairment in the quality of life is not clearly related to the impaired sense of taste.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Timo Pessi, MSc for performing the statistical analyses.

Funding

This study was funded by the Helsinki University Hospital Research Fund (Grant number TYH2015204).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, P.O. Box 263, FI-00029 HUS,, Helsinki, Finland

    Markus Lilja, Mari Markkanen-Leppänen, Sanna Viitasalo & Antti Mäkitie

  2. Department of Oncology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Kauko Saarilahti

  3. Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Andrew Lindford & Patrik Lassus

  4. Division of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases, Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    Antti Mäkitie

Authors
  1. Markus Lilja
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  2. Mari Markkanen-Leppänen
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  3. Sanna Viitasalo
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  4. Kauko Saarilahti
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  5. Andrew Lindford
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  6. Patrik Lassus
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  7. Antti Mäkitie
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antti Mäkitie.

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All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research ethics committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The Research Ethics Board approved the study design and an institutional study permission was granted.

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All patients filled in an informed consent form.

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Lilja, M., Markkanen-Leppänen, M., Viitasalo, S. et al. Olfactory and gustatory functions after free flap reconstruction and radiotherapy for oral and pharyngeal cancer: a prospective follow-up study. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 275, 959–966 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-018-4883-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-018-4883-x

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