Ranula – everything about it let’s learn

• A swelling that occurs in floor of mouth

• It’s commonly a Mucous extravasation cyst in the floor of mouth
• Usually involves Sublingual gland. Less common – submandibular salivary glands or  from minor salivary glands in floor of mouth

Why Called Ranula????

• “rana” means frog because this lesion often resemble a frog’s translucent underbelly, thus called as RANULA

• Dome shaped, painless, slow-growing, soft, movable mass, translucent blue in color located in the floor of the mouth. Deeper ranulas are normal in color
• Lateral to midline of floor of mouth
• Usually larger than other mucoceles
• May grow to a large size  filling floor of mouth and elevating tongue
• Plunging/cervical ranula – a rare suprahyoid type of ranula,  spilled mucin extends from the sublingual space around or through the mylohyoid muscle to the submandibular space producing swelling within the neck
• Microscopic features similar to that of a Mucocele in other locations.

TREATMENT

• Either marsupialization (not very effective)  or more often excision of entire sublingual gland
• Sometimes may recurs if the entire sublingual gland or other gland causing them is not excised with the lesion

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REFERENCES

• Shafer’s Textbook Of Oral Pathology
• Shear – Cysts Of The Oral & Maxillofacial Regions
• Neville – Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology
• Image – Wikipedia & Wikimedia Commons