Analgesia in Lingual Frenulotomy in the Newborn

Plain-language summary

Ankyloglossia (tongue-tie) is a congenital anomaly characterized by a short lingual frenulum that limits the physiological tongue movement and occurs with an estimated prevalence between 4 and 10% of the newborns. This condition can be associated with difficulty in breastfeeding which can be painful for the mother, dysfunctional swallowing and future speech difficulties. The prevalence of nipple pain among women breastfeeding newborns with ankyloglossia is estimated to be between 36 and 80%. Since an early intervention can prevent the difficulties that may occur during the child's growth and can also improve the mothers and patients' quality of life, it is important to evaluate the lingual frenulum in the first days of life. The treatment of ankyloglossia consists in the frenulotomy which allows the release of the lingual frenulum and is a relatively simple procedure with few side effects and minimal post-operative. Different methods performed with or without local anaesthesia by means of scissors, blade, laser (etc.) are described in literature for the procedure the newborn. The hypothesis of the study is that the addition of a water and sugar solution to the standard analgesia with lidocaine may lead to a greater benefit in terms of pain control and determine the activation of different brain areas. The primary aim of the study is to evaluate whether the administration of a water and sugar solution to newborns undergoing frenulotomy receiving topical lidocaine as standard analgesic protocol, may lead to an additional benefit in terms of pain reduction evaluated according to the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS). The secondary aim of the study is to evaluate through a Hitachi multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) the effects of the addition of a water and sugar solution to the standard analgesic protocol with topical lidocaine on the cortical activation.

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