PEDIATRICS Vol. 72 No. 4 October 1983, pp. 510-516
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Odor Perception in Children in Relation to Nasal Obstruction

S. Nasrin Ghorbanian MD, MPH1, Jack L. Paradise MD1, and Richard L. Doty PhD1

1 From the Ambulatory Care Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Departments of Pediatrics and Community Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, and Clinical Smell and Taste Research Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia

To determine whether nasal obstruction in children results in impaired nasal function, olfactory sensitivity was assessed in 65 children with various degrees of nasal obstruction and in 13 children without nasal obstruction. Overall, olfactory detection thresholds were directly related to clinical ratings of degree of nasal obstruction. Of the subjects with nasal obstruction attributable to adenoid hypertrophy, 28 received adenoidectomy; when retested 2 to 28 months later, 20 of the 28 subjects showed generally commensurate reductions in nasal obstruction ratings and olfactory detection thresholds. In a comparison subgroup of 16 subjects retested after intervals of 5 to 13 months without having received intervening adenoidectomy, both the nasal obstruction ratings and the olfactory detection thresholds remained relatively unchanged. These results suggest that, in children, nasal obstruction of varied degree is associated with commensurate impairment of the ability to smell, and that reduction in the degree of nasal obstruction results in commensurate recovery of the ability to smell. Olfactory function, although hitherto accorded little pediatric attention, deserves consideration both in weighing the importance of nasal obstruction in children and in deciding about therapeutic intervention.

Key Words: nasal obstruction • olfactory function • odor perception • adenoid hypertrophy • smell sensitivity

Submitted on October 10, 1982
Accepted on December 21, 1982




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