Effect of a tongue-tie on upper airway mechanics in horses during exercise.

This research investigates the impact of a tongue-tie on the mechanism involved in the upper respiratory system of horses during exercise. The study found that a tongue-tie didn’t significantly alter the horses’ upper respiratory mechanics. However, it was noticed that horses with a tongue-tie exhibited higher peak inspiratory flows when compared to those without a tongue-tie.

Research Method

• The study was conducted on a group of five Standardbreds, a common breed of domestic horse.
• Different measurements such as peak inspiratory and expiratory tracheal and pharyngeal pressures, and airflow, plus the respiratory rate were recorded while the horses exercised on a treadmill. This was done both with and without a tongue-tie.
• The exercise intensities for the horses were determined by their heart rate, setting the speeds to synchronize with 50%, 75%, 90%, and 100% of their maximum heart rate.
• The tongue-tie was implemented by pulling the horses’ tongue forward out of their mouth as far as possible and tying it to to the mandible with an elastic bandage. This tie-point was set at the base of the frenulum.
• Subsequently, peak inspiratory and expiratory tracheal, pharyngeal, and translaryngeal resistance, as well as minute ventilation and tidal volume, were calculated.
• The data were analyzed using 2-way repeated-measures ANOVA and the Student-Newman-Keuls test for post hoc comparison of significant data.

Study Findings

• The results reveal no significant differences between the groups in terms of peak inspiratory or expiratory tracheal or pharyngeal resistance, peak pressure, peak expiratory flow, tidal volume, respiratory rate, or minute ventilation.
• The study observed that running horses with a tongue-tie ended up with significantly higher peak inspiratory flows when compared to horses running without the tongue-tie.
• In the post hoc comparison, this noteworthy effect became apparent at 4 m/s, HR50, and HR90.

Conclusions

• Though the use of a tongue-tie did not significantly alter the upper respiratory mechanics in exercising horses, it may be of benefit for horses with certain types of obstructive dysfunction in the upper airways.
• In clinically normal horses, however, the study concludes that the application of a tongue-tie does not result in an improvement of upper airway mechanics.