Something Stinks! Finding Ways to Manage Noxious Odours in the Operating Room and Other Clinical Settings A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives: The hospital can be saturated with noxious smells. Anecdotally, medical staff apply products to surgical masks to lessen the impact of these smells. This study aimed to determine the odour-masking ability of 4 inexpensive and convenient products. Methods: A randomized, single-blinded crossover study was conducted in Vancouver, Canada. Participants, 19 to 30 years old, were invited to participate. Participants with active allergies, upper respiratory tract infection, alteration to sense of smell, or failure of olfactory screen were excluded from the study. An experimental odour was used in lieu of a noxious surgical odour. After smelling the experimental odour without barriers, participants were re-exposed to the odour using 5 surgical masks in randomized order. Each mask was lined with a test product (cherry lip balm, tincture of benzoin, Mastisol, mint toothpaste, and control [plain mask]). Participants rated the effectiveness of products at masking the experimental odour from 0 to 100 (0 = completely ineffective, 100 = completely effective). Participants also rated the pleasantness of the products, recorded if the products made them feel unwell, and identified their preferred product overall. Results: Eighty participants were included in the study (33 male, 47 female), averaging 24.2 years of age. Mean odour-masking effectiveness for cherry lip balm was 66.5 (±24.6), tincture of benzoin: 62.6 (±25.0), Mastisol: 61.3 (±23.9), mint toothpaste: 57.5 (±27.4), and control: 21.9 (±21.8). All products performed better than the control (P < .001), but there was no significant difference in performance between products. Cherry lip balm was the most preferred odour-masking product (29 participants), followed by mint toothpaste (22), Mastisol (14), tincture of benzoin (10), and control (5). Conclusions: All tested products demonstrated equivalent odour-masking abilities. If health care professionals choose to use an odour-masking product, they should consider their own olfactory preferences.