Table 3. Olfactory outcomes of the nasoseptal flap.
| Included studies | LOE | Number of patients | Outcome | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upadhyay et al 18 | 4 | 10 NSF | UPSIT |
Preop (30.7), 6 weeks (24.5,
p
= 0.05), 3 months (29,
p
= 0.5),
6 months (30, p = 0.7) |
| Soyka et al 6 | 4 | 20 NSF | Sniffin' Sticks | Preop (median score 10) postop (9.5) ( p = 0.02) |
| Jalessi et al 15 | 2b | 68 NSF vs 38 No-NSF | SNOT-22 (Questions sense of taste/smell ) | Preop and at 1,3, 6 and 12 months: No significant difference between groups |
| Rioja et al. 19 | 2b | 17 NSF vs 38 no-NSF | BAST-24 | Preop vs 12 months post-op: no difference |
| Harvey et al 20 | 4 | 40 NSF | SIT40 | Pre-op (31.63 ± 3.49) 6 months (31.35 ± 4.61) ( p = 0.68) |
| Soudry et al 7 | 4 | 29 NSF | SNOT-22 (sense of taste/smell) | Preop (score 1) 3 months (1.46) ( p = 0.29) |
| Chaaban et al 21 | 4 | 6 NSF | UPSIT | Preop (29.4 ± 1.1) 3 months (28.6 ± 1.3) ( p = 0.87) |
| Kim et al 22 | 4 | 26 NSF | CCCRC and CCSIT | Preop (7.1 ± 2.1 and 9.3 ± 2.3) 6 months (4.9 ± 3.1 and 6.3 ± 3.4) ( p < 0.001) |
| Tam et al 23 | 2b | 10 NSF vs 10 synthetic materials | UPSIT score reduction at 6 months post-op | NSF (19.6%) Synthetic materials (9.11%) ( p = 0.001) |
| Kim et al 24 | 2b | 8 NSF cold knife vs 7 NSF electrocautery | CCSIT and BTT pre-op vs 6 months | No significant change ( p = 0.24 and p = 0.45) |
| Rotenbert et al 25 | 4 | 17 NSF | UPSIT | Preop (37.2) 6 months (30.8) ( p = 0.0001) |
Abbreviations: BAST, Barcelona Smell Test; BTT, Butanol threshold test; CCCRC, Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center Test, CCSIT, Cross-Cultural Smell Identification Test; LOE, level of evidence; NSF, nasoseptal flap; preop, preoperatively; postop, postoperatively; SIT40, Smell Identification Test 40; SNOT-22, Sino-Nasal Outcome test—22 items; UPSIT, University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test.