Surgical treatment of ankyloglossia

Ankyloglossia in Australia: Practices of health professionals

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the opinions and practices of health professionals involved in ankyloglossia diagnosis and management in Australia.

METHOD

Two hundred and thirty-seven health professionals across Australia responded to an online survey including their diagnostic and management practice of ankyloglossia. Descriptive statistics, content analysis and thematic analysis were used to analyse quantitative data and open-ended responses, respectively.

RESULTS

Most (91.6%) respondents reported they are responsible for the assessment and diagnosis of ankyloglossia in their clinical practice. A majority (56.7%) reported using more than one assessment tool in clinical practice. Less than half (46.4%) reported providing treatment to manage ankyloglossia. Surgical management was used by 44.5%, and 56.4% used non-surgical management as their primary treatment of ankyloglossia. Of the total sample, 26.6% had completed no further training or professional development in the field. 46% of respondents stated they always educate parents about ankyloglossia diagnoses, whereas 29.5% reported they always educate parents about management of ankyloglossia. Of respondents, a high level of confidence was reported by 62.6% of health professionals in the assessment of infants with ankyloglossia. Of those who perform surgical management, 53.7% reported feeling extremely confident in their skills. Fifty-two percent of respondents reported they were dissatisfied with the current service delivery for infants with ankyloglossia.

CONCLUSIONS

The diagnosis, management and education practices varied greatly amongst health professionals in Australia. Clinical guidelines for all relevant health professionals are needed to ensure standardised diagnosis and management processes. In future, this will help guide evidence-based diagnosis and intervention for infants with ankyloglossia.

Ankyloglossia in Central Australia: Prevalence, identification and management in infants

PURPOSE

To investigate the prevalence and management of ankyloglossia for infants in Central Australia.

METHOD

Retrospective chart review consisting of a medical file audit of infants (n = 493) <2 years old diagnosed with ankyloglossia from January 2013 to December 2018 in the primary hospital in Central Australia. Patient characteristics, reason for diagnosis, reason for procedure and outcomes of procedures routinely recorded in the patient clinical files were recorded.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of ankyloglossia in this population was 10.2%. Frenotomy was performed in 97.9% of infants diagnosed with ankyloglossia. Infants with ankyloglossia were more likely to be male (58% vs 42%), diagnosed and managed with a frenotomy on the third day of life. Most ankyloglossia diagnoses were identified by a midwife (>92%). Most frenotomy procedures were completed by lactation consultants who were also midwives (99%) using blunt-ended scissors. More infants were classified with posterior ankyloglossia than anterior ankyloglossia (23% vs 15%). A frenotomy procedure resolved feeding issues in 54% of infants with ankyloglossia.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of ankyloglossia and rate of frenotomy procedures were high when compared to previous reports in the general population. Frenotomy for ankyloglossia in infants with breastfeeding difficulties was found to be effective in more than half of the reported sample, improving breastfeeding and decreasing maternal nipple pain. A standardised approach and validated screening or comprehensive assessment tool for the identification of ankyloglossia is indicated. Guidelines and training for relevant health professionals on non-surgical management of the functional limitations of ankyloglossia are also recommended.

Ankyloglossia and Tethered Oral Tissue: An Evidence-Based Review

Tethered oral tissue may represent anatomic variation or true pathology with functional limitations. The most prevalent functional limitation is impaired feeding due to ankyloglossia. Treatment options include conservative management with feeding support versus intervention such as frenotomy or frenuloplasty. The benefits of intervention have yet to be fully elucidated. Many can agree that intervention may improve maternal pain during breastfeeding, but the impact of these procedures on feeding efficiency and intake is debated. Alternate ties such as posterior ankyloglossia and lip tie have been proposed as pathologic oral ties, but their true impact on feeding and speech articulation remains unclear.

A systematic review: The effects of frenotomy on breastfeeding and speech in children with ankyloglossia

Purpose: The primary objective of this systematic review was to determine if frenotomy for ankyloglossia improves breastfeeding or speech outcomes in infants and children ages birth to 12.Method: Literature selection focussed on the presence of ankyloglossia, reported as either posterior or submucosal, and the impact of surgical treatment. The two populations that were included involve infants who were breastfeeding and children with speech delays. Six search engines were utilised (PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Database, CINHAL Plus, ERIC and PsychINFO). The selected articles critically examined study characteristics, measurement tools, outcome measures, design, and summary of results, and bias.Result: Five articles met the inclusion criteria related to infants who had undergone a frenotomy and who were examining changes in breastfeeding outcomes and two articles met the inclusion criteria for changes in speech production following a frenotomy.Conclusion: Research supports the use of frenotomy in children with ankyloglossia to reduce nipple pain and improve maternal self-efficacy during breastfeeding. The classification of ankyloglossia, assessment tools used, age and timing of frenotomy, in terms of breastfeeding improvements were inconsistent across the studies. Ankyloglossia release for children with speech delays is currently inconclusive due to lack of objective data and research quality. Overall, the review also revealed inconsistent definitions of ankyloglossia severity, standardised outcome measures and research protocols.

Comparison of simple frenotomy with 4-flap Z-frenuloplasty in treatment for ankyloglossia with articulation difficulty: A prospective randomized study

OBJECTIVE

To compare the surgical outcomes of simple frenotomy and the 4-flap Z-frenuloplasty according to the articulation test values and tongue-tie classification in patients with ankyloglossia with articulation difficulty.

STUDY DESIGN

prospective randomized study.

SETTING

Tertiary academic center.

SUBJECTS

and methods: Children with ankyloglossia with articulation difficulty were randomly divided into 2 groups for surgical treatment. Patients were evaluated for the tongue-tie classification and articulation test before surgery. Three months after the operation, the frenulum classification and articulation test were re-evaluated to compare the differences in surgical outcome between the two surgical methods.

RESULTS

Out of 37 patients, 19 underwent the 4-flap Z-frenuloplasty and 18, the simple frenotomy. No differences were observed in the baseline characteristics of the patients assigned to both groups. Changes in the tongue-tie classification and improvement in the articulation test results were observed with both the surgical methods. Both surgical groups had significant improvement in the speech articulation test (consonants) but there was no difference in the speech outcomes between the surgical groups.

CONCLUSION

Although there was no significant difference in the surgical outcome between the two surgical methods, ankyloglossia patients showed improvement in a Korean speech articulation test 3 months after undergoing surgery to release the lingual frenulum.

What is a tongue tie? Defining the anatomy of the in-situ lingual frenulum

Surgical release of the lingual frenulum (frenotomy) has become an increasingly common procedure, performed from birth through to adulthood. Surprisingly, detailed anatomy of the in‐situ lingual frenulum has never been described, and no anatomical basis has been proposed for the individual variability in frenulum morphology. The lingual frenulum is frequently referred to as a “cord” or “submucosal band” of connective tissue, yet there is no evidence to support this anatomical construct. This paper aims to describe the anatomy of the in‐situ lingual frenulum and its relationship to floor of mouth structures. Fresh tissue microdissection of the lingual frenulum and floor of mouth was performed on nine adult cadavers with photo‐documentation and description of findings. The lingual frenulum is a dynamic structure, formed by a midline fold in a layer of fascia that inserts around the inner arc of the mandible, forming a diaphragm‐like structure across the floor of mouth. This fascia is located immediately beneath the oral mucosa, fusing centrally with the connective tissue on the tongue's ventral surface. The sublingual glands and submandibular ducts are enveloped by the fascial layer and anterior genioglossus fibers are suspended beneath it. Lingual nerve branches are located superficially on the ventral surface of the tongue, immediately deep to the fascia. The lingual frenulum is not a discrete midline structure. It is formed by dynamic elevation of a midline fold in the floor of mouth fascia. With this study, the clinical concept of ankyloglossia and its surgical management warrant revision. Clin. Anat. 32:749–761, 2019. © 2019 The Authors. Clinical Anatomy published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Clinical Anatomists.