Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Jan 14;14(2):506.
doi: 10.3390/jcm14020506.

Post COVID-19 and Long COVID Symptoms in Otorhinolaryngology-A Narrative Review

Orlando Guntinas-Lichius  1 , Thomas Bitter  1 , Robert Takes  2 , Victor H F Lee  3   4 , Nabil F Saba  5 , Antti A Mäkitie  6 , Luiz P Kowalski  7   8 , Iain J Nixon  9 , Alfio Ferlito  10
Affiliations
Review

Post COVID-19 and Long COVID Symptoms in Otorhinolaryngology-A Narrative Review

Orlando Guntinas-Lichius et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Post/Long COVID (syndrome) is defined as a condition with symptoms persisting for more than 12 weeks after the onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection that cannot be explained otherwise. The prevalence of self-reported otorhinolaryngological Post/Long COVID symptoms is high. The aim of this review was to analyze the current literature regarding the actual prevalence, knowledge of the etiopathology, and evidence-based treatment recommendations of otorhinolaryngology-related Post/Long COVID symptoms. A systematic literature search of articles published since 2019 in PubMed and ScienceDirect was performed and resulted in 108 articles. These were the basis for this review and formed a comprehensive series of consented therapy statements on the most important of otorhinolaryngology-related Post/Long COVID symptoms. Otorhinolaryngological symptoms did not appear isolated but as part of a multi-organ syndrome. Self-reported otorhinolaryngology-related Post/Long COVID symptoms were often not confirmed by objective testing. The confirmed prevalence estimated for anosmia, dysgeusia, cough, facial palsy, hoarseness/dysphonia, acute hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo/dizziness was about 4%, 2%, 4-19%, 0%, 17-20%, 8%, 20%, and 5-26%, respectively. There are manifold theoretical concepts of the etiopathology of different symptoms, but there is no clear evidence-based proof. This certainly contributes to the fact that there is no effective specific treatment option for any of the symptoms mentioned. Healthcare pathways must be established so that otorhinolaryngological Post/Long COVID symptoms can be recognized and evaluated and otorhinolaryngologists can provide counseling. This would also help to establish and selectively include patients in clinical trials investigating specific therapeutic concepts.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; SARS-CoV-2; laryngology; long COVID; olfaction; otolaryngology; otology; post COVID-19; rhinology; taste.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that this research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Post/Long COVID symptoms that should lead to a referral to an otorhinolaryngologist and treatment options.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Greenhalgh T., Sivan M., Perlowski A., Nikolich J. Long COVID: A clinical update. Lancet. 2024;404:707–724. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01136-X. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Al-Aly Z., Davis H., McCorkell L., Soares L., Wulf-Hanson S., Iwasaki A., Topol E.J. Long COVID science, research and policy. Nat. Med. 2024;30:2148–2164. doi: 10.1038/s41591-024-03173-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Davis H.E., McCorkell L., Vogel J.M., Topol E.J. Long COVID: Major findings, mechanisms and recommendations. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2023;21:133–146. doi: 10.1038/s41579-022-00846-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Choutka J., Jansari V., Hornig M., Iwasaki A. Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes. Nat. Med. 2022;28:911–923. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-01810-6. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Schultheiß C., Willscher E., Paschold L., Gottschick C., Klee B., Bosurgi L., Dutzmann J., Sedding D., Frese T., Girndt M., et al. Liquid biomarkers of macrophage dysregulation and circulating spike protein illustrate the biological heterogeneity in patients with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. J. Med. Virol. 2023;95:e28364. doi: 10.1002/jmv.28364. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources