Ranula-Recommended Radiology and Management

The diagnosis of ranula is of clinical importance as some benign and malignant lesions may have similar clinical presentation. Ultrasonographic examination of sublingual salivary gland is usually inconclusive due to its location. But in this case we were able to clearly delineate the lesion on USG. Treatment modalities for the management of ranulas include excision of the ranula only, marsupialization with or without cauterization of the lesion lining, excision of the oral part of the ranula along with involved sublingual gland or rarely submandibular gland, incision and drainage of the lesion via intraoral approach, excision of the lesion via extraoral approach, combined with excision of sublingual gland in certain cases. Even with the above mentioned treatment modalities, many patients presented with recurrence and sometimes may have larger lesions as compared to initial one. Excision of ranula along with involved sublingual gland is the most accepted method with low recurrence rate. In our patient from the typical history and examination findings supplemented by the USG a diagnosis of sublingual ranula was made. Excision of the ranula along with the ipsilateral sublingual gland was done.