Anosmia following superior turbinate resection

Nasal polyposis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the sinus mucosa responsible for, among other symptoms, alteration of the sense of smell in a considerable percentage of patients. One of the aims of surgical treatment is the recuperation of the sense of smell, especially in patients with good preoperative indicators suggesting a possible favorable outcome. The purposes of this brief clinical report are to present the case of a patient with nasal polyposis who developed anosmia after a bilateral endoscopic functional ethmoidectomy with inadvertent resection of both superior turbinates, and to discuss briefly the possible physiopathological mechanisms that could explain it.