Improvement in problematic feeding symptoms for infants with lip-tie and tongue-tie after frenotomy

Abstract

Tethered oral tissues decrease lip and tongue mobility, impairing milk transfer from the breast or bottle. No studies have evaluated the effects of frenotomy in infants using valid measures of feeding. The aims were to describe changes in symptoms of problematic feeding, as measured by the Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool (NeoEAT), pre- and post-frenotomy, and explore the contribution of infant age to changes in problematic feeding. Parents completed an online survey about their infant's feeding on the day of frenotomy and 2 weeks post-frenotomy. Paired t-tests evaluated the effect of frenotomy on infant feeding symptoms by feeding method (breast, bottle or mixed). Linear regression examined the effect of infant age on change scores for the NeoEAT. NeoEAT scores were significantly lower in all subgroups after frenotomy, with no association between infant age and scores. Using the validated NeoEAT will give nurses and providers data for specialty referral and feeding support.