Corticosteroid nasal spray for recovery of smell sensation in COVID-19 patients: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

ObjectivesTo evaluate the role of the topical corticosteroid, mometasone furoate, nasal spray in the treatment of post COVID-19 anosmia. MethodsA prospective, randomized, controlled trial was conducted among patients with post COVID-19 anosmia. One hundred patients were randomly assigned to two groups; group I included 50 patients received mometasone furoate nasal spray in an appropriate dose of 2 puff (100 μg) once daily in each nostril for 3 weeks with olfactory training, group II included 50 patients were advised to keep on olfactory training only. The assessment of smell was done using (Visual Analog Scale from 0 to 10). All patients were initially evaluated after their recovery from COVID-19 and followed up for 3 weeks. The smell scores were recorded weekly and the duration of smell loss was recorded from the onset of anosmia till the full recovery. ResultsIn both groups, the smell scores significantly improved by the end of the third week (P < 0.001). By comparing smell scores between both groups after 1 week, 2 weeks, and 3 weeks of treatment, there were no statistically significant differences between both groups. In group I, (62%) of patients completely recovered their sense of smell after 3 weeks of treatment, compared to (52%) of patients in group II (P = 0.31). ConclusionThe results suggested that using mometasone furoate nasal spray as a topical corticosteroid in the treatment of post COVID-19 anosmia offers no superiority benefits over the olfactory training, regarding smell scores, duration of anosmia, and recovery rates. Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04484493