Most babies referred for tongue-tie surgeries to breastfeed unnecessary, study says

Sonja Haller
More than 60 percent of babies referred for lingual frenulum surgeries so they can successfully breastfeed are not needed, researchers found.

Moms who struggle to breastfeed undergo one helluva heart-squeezing ride.

If and when a medical professional suggests a simple tongue-tie surgery may help correct the issue, moms seem increasingly eager to consider it.

In fact, the number has soared from about 1,200 tongue-tie or frenotomy surgeries in 1997 to more than 12,400 in 2012, according to one study.

Now comes research that says the procedure has become too common.

About 63% of babies referred to a specialty center did not need the operation, researchers report in the July journal JAMA Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery.

The small study involved 115 babies, most about 1 month old.

'Are all of these procedures necessary?'

Study author Dr. Christopher Hartnick, director of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, said the study is limited but begs for further inquiry.

"It’s been surprising to see such an uptick over the last decade, to see people sent in for something they weren’t sent in for before,” Hartnick told the Huffington Post, adding that he receives about five referrals for surgery a week. "We wondered, 'Is the indication proper? Are all of these procedures necessary?'"

The surgery can be necessary for infants when the lingual frenulum, the tissue that connects the tongue to the floor of the mouth, is too tight, restricting the tongue's movement.

In order to breastfeed, Hartnick told Reuters, an infant needs to "form a seal with their mouths around the nipple of the mother or a bottle."

The minor surgery allows infants to latch on or suck.

The study points out that tongue-tie surgery can cost $850 to $8,000.

Harnick told the Huffington Post that to him this means that it's OK for parents to get a surgeon's opinion, but to take a "multidisciplinary look" at what's happening and include pediatricians, lactation consultants, speech pathologists, and ear, nose and throat specialists in the conversation.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tongue-tied baby: Most surgery referrals unnecessary, study says