Olfactory and Gustatory Function before and after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Background and Objectives: Bariatric surgery is the gold standard for the treatment of morbid obesity, and current evidence suggests that patients undergoing surgery can show changes in their sense of taste and smell. However, no definitive conclusions can be drawn given the heterogeneity of the stu...

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Published inMedicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) Vol. 57; no. 9; p. 913
Main Authors Berro, Cecilia, Pendolino, Alfonso Luca, Foletto, Mirto, Facciolo, Maria Cristina, Maculan, Pietro, Prevedello, Luca, Giuntoli, Diletta Giulia, Scarpa, Bruno, Pavan, Chiara, Andrews, Peter J., Ottaviano, Giancarlo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 31.08.2021
MDPI
Subjects
bariatric surgery
Body mass index
Food
Gastrointestinal surgery
Identification
Laparoscopy
Obesity
olfactory threshold
Otolaryngology
Patients
sleeve gastrectomy
smell
taste
taste quality
Weight control
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Summary:Background and Objectives: Bariatric surgery is the gold standard for the treatment of morbid obesity, and current evidence suggests that patients undergoing surgery can show changes in their sense of taste and smell. However, no definitive conclusions can be drawn given the heterogeneity of the studies and the contrasting results reported in the literature. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 18 obese patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and 15 obese controls. At baseline (T0) and 6 months after enrollment/surgery (T1), both groups underwent Sniffin’ Sticks and whole mouth test. Post-operative qualitative taste variations were also analyzed and SNOT-22, VAS for taste and smell, and MMSE were administered. Results: An improvement in the olfactory threshold was observed in the treatment group (p = 0.03) at 6 months. At multivariate analysis, the olfactory threshold differences observed correlated with MMSE (p = 0.03) and T0 gustatory identification (p = 0.01). No changes in sense of taste were observed between the two groups at 6 months, even though nine subjects in the treatment group reported a worsening of taste. This negatively correlated with age (p < 0.001), but a positive marginal correlation was observed with the olfactory threshold difference between T0 and T1 (p = 0.06). Conclusions: Olfaction can improve after LSG, and this seems to be the consequence of an improved olfactory threshold. Although we did not observe any change in gustatory identification, food’s pleasantness worsened after bariatric surgery.
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The first two authors equally contributed to the work and should be regarded as joint first authors.
ISSN:1648-9144
1010-660X
1648-9144
DOI:10.3390/medicina57090913