Association between ankyloglossia and breastfeeding

Abstract

Purpose To analyze the association between ankyloglossia and breastfeeding. Methods A cross-sectional study was undertaken on 130 newborn infants in exclusive breastfeeding with Apgar score ≥ 8 within the first five days of life. The research was approved by the Ethics Committee on Human Research. The data collection was performed by the researcher and by three trained speech therapists of the team. The protocols applied were the Neonatal Tongue Screening Test from the Lingual Frenulum Protocol for Infants, the UNICEF Breastfeeding Observation Aid, and the collection of maternal complaints related to the difficulty in breastfeeding was also considered. The data were submitted to statistical analysis – chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test, with a significance level of 5%. Results When correlating the data, the statistical analysis revealed an association between ankyloglossia and the items of suckling category of the Breastfeeding Observation Aid. The association between complaint of difficulty in breastfeeding and ankyloglossia was also seen. Conclusion On the first days of life, ankyloglossia is associated with the mother’s breastfeeding complaint and with the newborn’s sucking difficulty.

Influência da anquiloglossia neonatal no aleitamento materno: revisão de literatura

“…Os relatos de mães logo nos primeiros dias de vida do bebê sobre a dificuldade de sucção, são bem comuns. Isso pode ser causado pela anquiloglossia que, nesse contexto, se apresenta como um fator de risco para o sucesso da amamentação 22 .…”

Interferência do frênulo lingual nas funções do sistema sensorial motor oral em crianças: uma revisão sistemática

“…Estudos evidenciam que, na presença da alteração associada às dificuldades na amamentação, duas categorias de sinais e sintomas podem surgir: os relacionados com o trauma mamilar e os relacionados com a amamentação ineficaz e consequente baixa ingestão nutricional da criança. Ainda, Campanha et al (2019) relatam que houve relação entre queixa de dificuldade de amamentação com a alteração do frênulo. Dessa forma, concluíram que o diagnóstico da anquiloglossia é importante e deve ser realizado, de forma precoce, ainda nas maternidades.…”

Surface Electromyographic Analysis of the Suprahyoid Muscles in Infants Based on Lingual Frenulum Attachment during Breastfeeding

“…The nipple is compressed from the tip to the base when the tongue is high, and, when it lowers, the nipple expands by approaching the hard palate with the soft palate and increases in diameter, causing a vacuum and allowing the milk to flow into the intraoral space [8][9][10][11]. Alterations of the lingual frenulum may limit its mobility [8,[12][13][14][15]33,34], resulting in inadequate catching and potentially leading to changes in sucking function, especially in the dynamic of sucking/removal of milk. The main problems identified in cases of an altered lingual frenulum in relation to breastfeeding in the mother's womb are difficulties in catching, nipple pain and cracking, prolonged feeding times, reduced milk intake by the infant, the loss of weight [12,14,[34][35][36][37], dehydration, and growth deficiency [9,[32][33][34].…”

“…Alterations of the lingual frenulum may limit its mobility [8,[12][13][14][15]33,34], resulting in inadequate catching and potentially leading to changes in sucking function, especially in the dynamic of sucking/removal of milk. The main problems identified in cases of an altered lingual frenulum in relation to breastfeeding in the mother's womb are difficulties in catching, nipple pain and cracking, prolonged feeding times, reduced milk intake by the infant, the loss of weight [12,14,[34][35][36][37], dehydration, and growth deficiency [9,[32][33][34]. Such changes may hinder the continuity of breastfeeding [12,14,[35][36][37], with consequences for the infant's health, and, later on, the development of chewing and speech [13,15].…”