Tongue-tie and frenotomy: what evidence do we have and what do we need?

Walsh, Jonathan; Tunkel, David E

doi:10.5694/mja17.00806

Topics

Pediatric medicine

Otorhinolaryngologic diseases

Surgical procedures, operative

We remain uncertain about which infants will benefit from surgical treatment

Ankyloglossia in newborns with breastfeeding difficulties has been diagnosed and treated in North America with increasing frequency over the past ten years.1,2 Kapoor and colleagues3 report in this issue of the MJA that frenotomy rates in Australia increased by 420% between 2006 and 2016, with differences between states and territories in the magnitude of the change.

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America

Correspondence: jwalsh31@jhmi.edu

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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2. Joseph K, Kinniburgh B, Metcalfe A, et al. Temporal trends in ankyloglossia and frenotomy in British Columbia, Canada, 2004–2013: a population-based study. CMAJ Open 2016; 4: e33-e40.
3. Kapoor V, Douglas PS, Hill PS, et al. Frenotomy for tongue-tie in Australian children, 2006–2016: an increasing problem. Med J Aust 2018; 208: 88-89.
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11. Hazelbaker AK. Tongue-tie morphogenesis, impact, assessment and treatment. Columbus (OH): Aidan & Eva Press, 2010.
12. Sackett DL, Rosenberg WM, Gray JA, et al. Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn’t. BMJ 1996; 312: 71-72.
13. Genther DJ, Skinner ML, Bailey PJ, et al. Airway obstruction after lingual frenulectomy in two infants with Pierre-Robin Sequence. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2015; 79: 1592-1594.

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