Evaluation of the Effects of Orthognathic Surgery on Olfactory Function: A Pilot Study

This pilot study aimed to evaluate the impact of bimaxillary orthognathic surgery on olfactory function.

A total of 12 adult patients (7 male, 5 female; mean age 24.5 ± 5.6 years) who underwent bimaxillary orthognathic surgery for Class III malocclusion were included. Olfactory function was assessed preoperatively (T0), 1 month postoperatively (T1), and 3 months postoperatively (T2) using the T-Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (T-NOSE) scale for nasal obstruction symptoms and the Sniffin' Sticks Threshold, Discrimination, Identification (TDI) test for olfactory performance.

Statistical analysis was performed using repeated measures analysis of variance with a significance level of P < 0.05. Pairwise comparisons were conducted using Bonferroni-corrected post-hoc tests to control for multiple comparisons.

The T-NOSE scale showed a significant reduction in nasal obstruction symptoms between T0 and T2 (P < 0.05). The Sniffin' Sticks TDI scores significantly improved between T0 and both T1 and T2 (P < 0.05). Specifically, the threshold test showed statistically significant differences between the preoperative and both postoperative time points (T0-T1 and T0-T2). Although no statistical significance was found in the Discrimination and Identification subtests, a trend toward improvement was observed post-surgery.

Bimaxillary orthognathic surgery appears to have a positive influence on olfactory function, as observed by improvements in both subjective (T-NOSE scale) and objective (Sniffin' Sticks TDI) measures. However, these observations should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size and limited follow-up period.