Smell or taste problems - NICE guidance - suspected neurological conditions - recognition and referral

Smell or taste problems

Summary points from NICE guidance relating to smell or taste problems in adults are:

Distorted sense of smell or taste

• be aware that sudden-onset distortion of sense of smell or taste in adults is rarely associated with structural neurological abnormality and usually resolves within a few months.

Smell or taste hallucinations

• refer adults with transient, repetitive smell or taste hallucinations to have a neurological assessment for epilepsy.

Loss of sense of smell or taste (1)

Consider neuroimaging for adults with unexplained loss of sense of smell or taste that lasts more than 3 months.

Do not routinely refer adults with loss of sense of smell or taste and normal neuroimaging.

Do not routinely refer adults who lose their sense of smell or taste immediately after a head injury.

Reference:

• NICE (May 2019). Suspected neurological conditions: recognition and referral