Ankyloglossia, Frenotomy and Speech Outcomes

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  An investigation into parental perception of speech improvement in children between 4 - 18 years of age who have been treated for ankyloglossia with lingual frenotomy in Brighton University Hospital Trust and East Sussex Healthcare Trust in the last 5 years.

• IRAS ID

  176747

• Contact name

  Jenny Herold

• Contact email

  Jenny.Herold@nhs.net

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Kent

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 3 months, 29 days

• Research summary

  Ankyloglossia is the tethering of the tongue to the floor of the mouth by a short or tight lingual frenum. Frenotomy is the process of surgically releasing the lingual frenum by incision.
  Although frenotomy is widely accepted as a treatment to aid with breastfeeding, (where there is a definite evidence that tongue tie is the reason for difficulty with breastfeeding) there is conflicting opinion on the benefit of frenotomy for improvement of speech patterns and there is currently a lack of research into this specific topic
  This study will assess parental opinion of their child’s speech patterns. This research will compare parental perception of speech in 3 groups of children
  • Group 1 – Children who have undergone frenotomy during childhood (age 4-18 years old)
  • Group 2 – Children who have undergone frenotomy as a neonate
  • Group 3 – Children without ankyloglossia

  The aim of this study is to determine parental perception of speech in children with ankyloglossia, and subsequently if this improved following frenotomy. In order to do this, parental perception of speech patterns pre and post frenotomy will be compared to those of children without tongue tie and those of children who had frenotomy at birth.
  The purpose of this is to determine whether frenotomy should be routinely carried out on ankyloglossia patients with speech discrepancies and to ultimately improve patient care.
  The method for this study will include:
  Group 1
  A Participant Information Leaflet will be sent to potential participants who meet the inclusion criteria - parents of children who have undergone frenotomies within Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (BSUH), and East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (ESH) between the ages of 4-18 years.
  Included with the Participant Information Leaflet will be an anonymous written questionnaire and a Stamped Address Envelope for its return. Alternatively, if Participants would prefer, there will be a link to an online survey.
  The questionnaire will aim to extract information using a Likert Scale. The survey will include information on the reason for surgery, the age of the patient and if there was a perceived benefit to speech.

  Group 2
  A Participant Information Leaflet will be sent to potential participants who meet the inclusion criteria - parents of children who have undergone frenotomies within Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (BSUH), and East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (ESH) as a neonate. Parents will be contacted at least 4 years post frenotomy to ensure the children are now of speaking age.
  Included with the Participant Information Leaflet will be an anonymous written questionnaire and a Stamped Address Envelope for its return. Alternatively, if Participants would prefer, there will be a link to an online survey.
  Group 3
  The third Group will include children without a tongue tie. This control group will include children attending the Paediatric Outpatient Department in BSUH. A written questionnaire will be given to the parents of these patients to assess their perception of their child’s speech. The information gathered from this group will be used to identify the ‘standard’ to which the other groups can be compared.
  Sample size will be determined using a Power Calculation. All patient records will be used, based on time order, beginning at present day and working back, until the sample size has been achieved.
  In this study, participation will be entirely voluntary and Ethics and R&D approval will be sought from NHS ethics and the Trust R&D department. In order to maintain confidentiality, all questionnaires will be completely anonymous. The responses will be recorded and stored on a secure online platform - Dropbox. This will only be accessible to the principal researcher, and their educational supervisor/Module Director (on request).

• REC name

  Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/YH/0132

• Date of REC Opinion

  27 Mar 2015

• REC opinion

  Unfavourable Opinion