how long after open heart surgery do you get your taste buds back

The anesthetic agents administered varied greatly but included, in some combination, commonly used agents and procedures preanesthetic medication (a sympathetic or parasympathetic blocking agent, a short-acting barbiturate, phenothiazine, benzodiazepine), intravenous induction (ketamine, propofol, benzodiazepine), inhalation anesthesia (nitrous oxide with oxygen, halothane, enflurane, isoflurane), and succinylcholine.

No patient had an associated coryza, head injury, or underlying disease process (e.g., endocrine, oncologic, nutritional, or infectious), none was taking any drug associated with permanent sensory dysfunction, and no other cause of the dysfunction could be ascertained despite a complete history, physical examination of head and neck, clinical laboratory studies, and radiographic studies, including computed tomography or magnetic resonance studies of skull and brain, as previously described in detail. Each patient noted on awakening from anesthesia and regaining composure, including eating and drinking, that a significant alteration in their taste and/or smell function had occurred that encompassed either loss of acuity or distorted function. Each patient came to the Clinic with a variety of taste and smell dysfunction complaints that followed a surgical procedure and general anesthesia. (Table 1) summarizes the taste and smell changes observed in these 59 patients.

How long after open heart surgery do you get your taste buds back