Hauswald Bettina, Taenzer K., Huettenbrink, K.- B.

Universitaets-HNO-Klinik, Fletscherstr. 74, 01307 Dresden, BRD

Since 1994, 80 patients with hyp- or anosmia were treated by needle acupuncture at our ENT Department. Cases were classified according to their genesis in infectious, traumatic or idiopathic. For examination of smell and taste we used the Sniffin’sticks developed by Kobal et.al. (identification, discrimination and n-Butanol-threshold test ) as well as the test set according to Ficketscher and Roseburg. Great emphasis was put on the patients history and examination. To exclude aggravation we additionally used the combined taste and smell-test according to Guettich. Patients with a history of less than six month disease, acute infection, nasal obstruction (e.g. nasal polyps) and an already started medical treatment were excluded from our study. Acupuncture was performed according to the traditional Chinese medicine principles, two sessions weekly with a total number of 12 to 15. After completion of the treatment course the smell potential was again assessed using the methods mentioned above. Good results were obtained in patients with hyposmia of infectious origin. After therapy, 10 of 30 patients showed normosmia, 11 patients presented with a marked improvement. This means a successful therapy of influenza-associated hyposmia in 70%. In contrast, only 30% of anosmic patients responded to acupuncture therapy.

Abstracts of ICMART '98 International Medical Acupuncture Congress