Artikel
Taste sensation after Cochlear Implantation Surgery
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Veröffentlicht: | 4. April 2012 |
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Gliederung
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Introduction: Due to the anatomical situation, the Chorda tymani nerve (CTN) is at risk to be damaged during Cochlear implantation, especially during posterior tympanotomy. Thus our aim was to elicit the status of taste sensation after Cochlear implant surgeries.
Method: 26 patients underwent a taste test before, 3 days and 6 weeks after cochlear implantation surgery. The values of sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes were evaluated. Also the patients self ratings of the taste function were obtained.
Results: 19% (5/26) of the patients had postoperative taste dysfunction 3 days after the surgery, either subjectively or objectively or both. One out of these 5 patients had both, subjective and objective taste disturbance, one patient had only subjective problems and 3 patients were subjectively asymptomatic but the postoperative taste test revealed a dysfunction. The recovery rate after 6 weeks was 100%.
Conclusion: Our results indicate that the Cochlear implantation has minimal risk of taste dysfunction but it seems to be mainly a transient problem.