Role of oral corticosteroid and olfactory training for treatment of Post-COVID-19 olfactory dysfunction: Our experiences

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is highly contagious and the increasing number of patients with variety of symptoms. Olfactory loss is currently a well-recognized symptom of COVID-19 infection. Many patients with COVID-19 infections recover with their normal sense of smell after few weeks, however certain portion of them develop long-standing olfactory dysfunction. Objective: The objective is to study the role of oral corticosteroids and olfactory training (OT) as a treatment for olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19 patient. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective and descriptive study on 78 COVID-19 patients who administered oral corticosteroids and OT. All of them were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction of nasopharyngeal swab. The detail clinical examination and treatment with intranasal corticosteroid and its outcome were analyzed. Results: In this study, 46 (58.97%) patients were male and 32 (41.02%) were female with male to female ratio of 1.43:1. The age ranges of 18–62 years. There were 36 (46.15%) patients in the age range of 18–30 years, 42 (53.84%) patients in the age range of 31–62 years. Out of 78 patients, 11 (14.10%) patients were recovered after 2 weeks, 34 (43.58%) patients recovered after 3 weeks, and 24 (30.76%) recovered after 4 weeks. Three patients lost follow-up during the treatment period. Conclusion: Combination of short course of oral corticosteroids and OT is a beneficial and safe treatment option for COVID-19 patients with olfactory dysfunction. However, there is a crucial demand for further studies to corroborate this outcome.