Effect of tongue reduction on articulation in children with Down syndrome.

Abstract

Tongue-reduction surgery was completed on 18 children with Down syndrome. Changes in articulation were evaluated pre- and postoperatively and at a 6-month follow-up. No significant differences in the number of articulation errors were found. The postoperative and 6-month follow-up scores of the surgery group were compared to a nonsurgery (contrast) group (N = 9) who had received two evaluations 6 months apart. Again, no significant differences were found. A follow-up survey of parental ratings on articulation of the surgery and nonsurgery group revealed that there were no significant differences between the groups but that parents of all the children claimed that "speech" had improved over the 6-month time period. These findings suggest that tongue-reduction surgery has no effect on the articulation of sounds.