ArticleJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2014
Medical tongue piercing - development and evaluation of a surgical protocol and the perception of procedural discomfort of the participants.
Article in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- The tongue piercing fashion and its related health costs: A perspective of clinical dentistry in Taiwan.Journal of dental sciences · 2025Article
- Assistive Technologies and Quadriplegia: A Map Point on the Development and Spread of the Tongue Barbell Piercing.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- A novel surgical technique for prevention of self-sucking in cattle and buffaloes: tongue piercing.BMC veterinary research · 2022Article
- Wireless intraoral tongue control of an assistive robotic arm for individuals with tetraplegia.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA system providing disabled persons with control of various assistive devices with the tongue has been developed at Aalborg University in Denmark. The system requires an activation unit attached to the tongue with a small piercing. The aim of this study was to establish and evaluate a safe and tolerable procedure for medical tongue piercing and to evaluate the expected and perceived procedural discomfort.
methodsFour tetraplegic subjects volunteered for the study. A surgical protocol for a safe insertion of a tongue barbell piercing was presented using sterilized instruments and piercing parts. Moreover, post-procedural observations of participant complications such as bleeding, edema, and infection were recorded. Finally, procedural discomforts were monitored by VAS scores of pain, changes in taste and speech as well as problems related to hitting the teeth.
resultsThe piercings were all successfully inserted in less than 5 min and the pain level was moderate compared with oral injections. No bleeding, infection, embedding of the piercing, or tooth/gingival injuries were encountered; a moderate edema was found in one case without affecting the speech. In two cases the piercing rod later had to be replaced by a shorter rod, because participants complained that the rod hit their teeth. The replacements prevented further problems. Moreover, loosening of balls was encountered, which could be prevented with the addition of dental glue. No cases of swallowing or aspiration of the piercing parts were recorded.
conclusionsThe procedure proved simple, fast, and safe for insertion of tongue piercings for tetraplegic subjects in a clinical setting. The procedure represented several precautions in order to avoid risks in these susceptible participants with possible co-morbidity. No serious complications were encountered, and the procedure was found tolerable to the participants. The procedure may be used in future studies with tongue piercings being a prerequisite for similar systems, and this may include insertion in an out-patient setting.
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Registered trials
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