Corticosteroids Therapy for COVID-19-Induced Hyposmia and Anosmia

ABSTRACT

Objective: Hyposmia and anosmia are the most frequent complaints of patients with COVID-19. It can disappear after a short time or can last for an unknown period. Finding a suitable treatment for restoring the patients' smell. The objective of this study is to review the effects of numerous types of corticoids on COVID-19-induced hyposmia and anosmia. Method(s) A narrative literature review was performed to analyze the effects of different forms of corticosteroids in various dosages for the treatment of COVID-19-induced hyposmia and anosmia. Result(s) There is not a lot of data on the effects of corticosteroids on COVID-19-induced hyposmia and anosmia;however, despite little evidence for the efficacy of these drugs in hyposmia and anosmia caused by COVID-19, their effect in improving these symptoms whether in oral or nasal spray forms has been reported in recent literature. Most of the studies show that corticosteroids, whether nasal or systemic, are not as effective as they are thought to be. Conclusion(s) Using topical corticosteroids as nasal sprays or systemic corticosteroids cannot help to improve the patient's ability to smell. These methods were sometimes mixed with other methods such as olfactory training to improve the patient's olfactory sense. However, the results of the studies showed diversity in the efficacies of each treatment plan. In most of the studies which used olfactory training along with corticosteroid therapy as a therapy for hyposmia/anosmia induced by COVID-19, olfactory training showed a better result. Copyright@Author(s).