Ankyloglossia, alone or in combination with upper lip tie, with regard to successful breastfeeding, is well covered in the literature. Very few studies have addressed isolated symptomatic upper lip tie and the role of surgical correction for breastfeeding difficulties, however.
Results of a multi-center study on this were published just this month (Freeman C G, Ohlstein J F, Rossi N A, et al. (December 20, 2022), Cureus 14(12): e32755. doi:10.7759/cureus.32755).
Seven infants with isolated upper lip tie and breastfeeding difficulty who underwent labial frenotomy were assessed at their follow-up visits for their degree of weight gain since the procedure. Their mothers were also surveyed regarding their experience with breastfeeding since the frenotomy was performed.
All these infants demonstrated improved weight gain, and all mothers reported increased ease of breastfeeding.
These findings implicate lip tie as an underrecognized cause of breastfeeding difficulty, and suggest that labial frenotomy are an effective treatment in these patients. Larger-scale randomized controlled studies are now clearly warranted.
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