Appendix
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Otolaryngology

Anatomy, Head and Neck, Styloglossus

The human tongue is an organ that aids the process of digestion by facilitating the manipulation and movement of food particles during mastication and swallowing. The tongue is also vital in the production of speech and essential for employing the sense of taste. The styloglossus muscle is a paired extrinsic muscle of the tongue. It coordinates with the other extrinsic muscles of the tongue, including the hyoglossus muscle, the genioglossus muscle, and the palatoglossus muscle, to produce the va

v1 · Reviewed Nov 7, 2026 by Automated Clinical Reviewer (Strict Verbatim v1)
  • Ludwig’s angina, a potentially fatal spreading cellulitis of the submandibular, sublingual, and submental spaces, can cause significant swelling of the tongue and retropulsion of the tongue base, threatening the airway.
  • Direct spread of the infection to involve laryngeal structures, such as the epiglottis, can result in edema and airway compromise.
  • further spread into the thoracic cavity may result in mediastinitis, which is rare but has a high mortality rate.
  • On examination, patients are instructed to protrude the tongue.
  • Damage of the hypoglossal nerve causes ipsilateral deviation of the tongue, i.e., the tongue will deviate to the side of the lesion or injury.
  • Invasion of the styloglossus muscle on magnetic resonance imaging has resulted in the up-staging of some tumors that were initially thought to be less aggressive.
  • A surgical procedure to split the lingual frenulum is often undertaken
  • frenulotomy (also known as frenotomy or frenuloplasty) is performed with increasing frequency
  • Hypoglossal nerve stimulation is an alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
  • Neurostimulation of the proximal hypoglossal nerve with the aim of increasing tone in the tongue is an increasingly performed procedure with a high likelihood of success in appropriately selected patients.
  • Reconstruction with free soft tissue transfer is often necessary
  • Resection of the styloglossus muscle during a transoral approach for squamous cell carcinoma of the lateral oropharynx exposes many vascular structures, and thus a transcervical approach may be preferable.
  • Damage to the hypoglossal nerve results in ipsilateral deviation of the tongue, i.e., damage to the left hypoglossal nerve will cause deviation of the tongue to the left side.
  • Surgical resection of malignant lesions of the tongue is another major source of tongue muscular dysfunction.
  • Moreover, the hypoglossal nerve can be damaged in such surgeries, resulting in a malfunction of the extrinsic muscles of the tongue
  • hemiglossectomies or more extensive resections have a hugely significant impact on patients' quality of life due to reduced ability to speak and swallow.
  • preoperative function does not generally return after major surgery.
  • This spread may lead to extension into the adjacent retropharyngeal spaces; further spread into the thoracic cavity may result in mediastinitis, which is rare but has a high mortality rate.
  • Ludwig’s angina, a potentially fatal spreading cellulitis of the submandibular, sublingual, and submental spaces, can cause significant swelling of the tongue and retropulsion of the tongue base, threatening the airway.
  • Direct spread of the infection to involve laryngeal structures, such as the epiglottis, can result in edema and airway compromise.
  • review
    Anatomy, Head and Neck, Styloglossus. StatPearls [Internet] — Sarah Akbar, Marc H. Hohman — StatPearls Publishing, 2023

Decision support only. Verify against local protocols and current labeling. Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov