Design and Setting:
This is a prospective case-control study done in a tertiary care center
wherein the nasal mucocilary function was assessed by saccharin test in
patients who were tracheostomized for a period of more than 4 weeks and
the saccharin transit time (time taken to appreciate the sweet taste
after endoscopic insertion of saccharin pellet on anterior end of
inferior turbinate) was compared by the same test in age and sex matched
healthy individuals.
Main outcome measures: Clinical data, indication of
tracheostomy and duration of tracheostomy were assessed for their impact
on the nasal mucociliary clearance using saccharin transit time in the
two groups which was then statistically analyzed using student t-test.