Tongue-tied’ Emirati baby undergoes successful surgery in Dubai hospital

  • Date: 11-Jun-2021
  • Source: Gulf News
  • Sector:Healthcare
  • Country:UAE
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Tongue-tied’ Emirati baby undergoes successful surgery in Dubai hospital

Dubai: An Emirati infant born 'tongue tied' was provided relief through timely surgical intervention carried out at a Dubai hospital. The surgery restored complete tongue functions, including proper suckling action that helped the baby bounce back to good health. The surgery was carried out in the last week of May 2020 by Dr Prashant Sharma, specialist ENT surgeon at Prime Hospital. Soon after her birth, the baby was unable to suckle at her mother's breast or cry loudly. When the child was three months old, her parents realised that the newborn was going hungry as she was unable to suckle. It was then that they consulted Dr Sharma. Describing the child's condition, Dr Sharma said: "A tongue-tie, medically known as Ankyloglossia, is a condition that affects 1.5 per cent children globally. However, few people are aware of this and fail to notice it soon enough. This condition means the tongue is tethered to the floor of the mouth by a fibrotic band, restricting free movement and making it difficult for a child to breast-feed, eat, speak and swallow. If left untreated, in some cases, it can cause speech delays and difficulty in eating certain types of food.“ Dr Sharma said