Dinâmica de sucção disfuncional em lactentes com anquiloglossia

Abstract

Introduction: Breastfeeding is widely recommended as an exclusive diet until 6 months of age and continued until two years or more. Its benefits are numerous and proven, including improving the immune system, a nutrient-rich diet and craniofacial development from the sucking movement. However, not all babies are able to breastfeed due to some difficulties, with ankyloglossia. Known as tongue tie, it can restrict tongue movements, making breastfeeding difficult and, in some cases, being responsible for early weaning. Objective: Compare infant suction in babies with and without ankyloglossia using a microprocessor-controlled pressure sensor coupled to a pacifier. Method: Fifty-five infants from 0 to 2 months of age underwent clinical examination for ankyloglossia, after which they were offered a silicone pacifier connected to the pressure acquisition device and suction activity was recorded. Thus, we extracted the frequency of sucks within a burst, the average suck duration, the burst duration, the number of sucks per burst, the maximum amplitude of sucks per burst and the inter-burst interval. Results: The key difference in newborns with ankyloglossia in relation to control was that they perform longer bursts of suction activity. Conclusion: The longer burst durations are likely a compensatory strategy and may underlie the pain reported by mothers during breastfeeding. We therefore propose a method for objectively quantifying some parameters of infant suction capacity and demonstrate its use in assisting the evaluation of ankyloglossia.