(1234) The Effect of Theophylline in Patients With Post-Traumatic Anosmia

Introduction: In this study, we aimed to use theophylline for the treatment of traumatic olfactory dysfunction.

Methods: Patients who had lost olfactory function after experiencing head trauma, and whose olfactory function was anosmic were selected. The eligible patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups. In the theophylline group, oral theophylline was prescribed 400mg twice a day for 6 months, with patients also undergoing olfactory training (OT). In the OT group, patients performed OT only for 6 months. The olfactory function was evaluated by both the phenyl ethyl alcohol (PEA) odor detection threshold test and the traditional Chinese version of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (TC-UPSIT) unirhinally, at both 3- and 6-month treatment.

Results: A total of 33 patients in the theophylline group and 37 in the OT group completed the study. Before treatment, the right and left unirhinal PEA thresholds were -1in both groups. After 3-month treatment, right unirhinal threshold increased to -1.666, and improved significantly (p=0.028), left unirhinal threshold increased to -1.333, and improved significantly (p=0.027) in the theophylline group. After 6-month treatment, right unirhinal threshold increased to -1.515, but not improved significantly (p=0.109), left unirhinal threshold increased to -1.663, and improved significantly (p=0.042) in the theophylline group. After 3-month treatment, right unirhinal threshold increased to -1.216, but not improved significantly (p=0.068), left unirhinal threshold increased to -1.118, but not improved significantly (p=0.066) in the OT group. After 6-month treatment, right unirhinal threshold increased to -1.122, but not improved significantly (p=0.109), left unirhinal threshold increased to -1.041, but not improved significantly (p=0.317) in the OT group. The TC-UPSIT scores of patients did not increase significantly after 3-month and 6-month treatment in both the theophylline and OT groups.

Conclusions: Our results show that adding theophylline to OT conferred a benefit to the olfactory thresholds of patients with posttraumatic anosmia.