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Olfactory and Gustatory Function After Bariatric Surgery

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Abstract

Background

Neither hormone levels nor malabsorption alone fully explains the distinct weight loss after bariatric surgery in morbidly obese patients. Postoperatively, patients regularly report a change in the sense of taste and the development of food aversions. Hedonic and sensory components like olfactory and gustatory stimuli significantly affect appetite and flavour.

Methods

We prospectively analysed the orthonasal olfactory and gustatory function with psychophysical testing in 44 patients undergoing laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), sleeve gastrectomy (SG) or adjustable gastric banding (AGB) and in 23 healthy controls.

Results

About 22.7 % of morbidly obese patients were hyposmic, showing significantly lower threshold-discrimination-identification (TDI) scores (p = 0.009) with decreased discrimination and identification ability. In addition, 22.7 % of patients were tested to be limited in gustatory function, with significantly lower taste strip test (TST) scores (p = 0.003). Six months after surgery, olfactory and gustatory function was not different when compared to healthy controls.

Conclusions

Due to obesity, patients frequently show impaired olfactory and gustatory function. Six months after laparoscopic bariatric surgery, both chemosensory functions improve. The TDI test is an appropriate tool to measure olfactory function in obese patients.

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Conflict of Interest

Franca Holinski, Charalambos Menenakos, Georg Haber, Juergen Ordemann and Heidi Olze declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical Statements

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery, Charité, University Medicine Berlin, Charité Campus Mitte, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Franca Holinski & Heidi Olze

  2. Centre for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, Department of General, Visceral, Vascular, and Thoracic Surgery, Charité, University Medicine Berlin, Charité Campus Mitte, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Charalambos Menenakos, Georg Haber & Juergen Ordemann

Authors
  1. Franca Holinski
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  2. Charalambos Menenakos
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  3. Georg Haber
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  4. Heidi Olze
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  5. Juergen Ordemann
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Franca Holinski.

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Holinski, F., Menenakos, C., Haber, G. et al. Olfactory and Gustatory Function After Bariatric Surgery. OBES SURG 25, 2314–2320 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1683-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1683-x

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