Literature review for - Flourish Paediatrics

Component Rating Notes
Evidence Base Poor 3 studies [2 cohort, 1 RCT (20, 1N)]
Consistency Satisfactory ALL studies show ankyloglossia is associated with
breastfeeding difficulties.
Clinical impact Satisfactory Studies suggest breastfeeding difficulties experienced
by mother’s of infant’s with ankyloglossia could
reduce duration and level of breastfeeding
Generalisability Satisfactory Studies were conducted in the US and UK.
Applicability Satisfactory Results are applicable to Australian women
The study included in the body of evidence statement is shown in the Table below
The cohort study conducted by Griffith on 215 infants with ankyloglossia found prior to
division, 88% of infants had difficulty latching, 77% of mothers experienced nipple trauma,
and 72% had a continuous feeding cycle. Of the sample 104 mothers (48%) were expressing
and cup- or bottle-feeding, as breastfeeding was too painful and inefficient despite expressing
their desire to breastfeed (Griffiths 2004).
In the RCT by Hogan and colleagues the researchers reported that 88 out of the 201 infants
with tongue tie had problems with feeding (44%) (Hogan, Westcott et al. 2005). A cohort
study found that breastfeeding difficulties were experienced by 9 (25%) of the mothers of
infants with ankyloglossia compared with 1 (3%) of the control mothers (P