What does a plunging ranula look like?

Plunging ranulas can manifest as neck swelling in conjunction with, or independent of, a floor-of-mouth cyst. Occasionally, squeezing the mass causes swelling in the floor-of-mouth cyst. Most reported plunging ranulas are 4-10 cm in size and are usually found in the submandibular space.

How do you treat plunging ranula?

The best treatment for a plunging ranula is excision of the lesion along with the involved gland (usually sublingual gland).

Can a plunging ranula go away on its own?

Small ranulas that don’t cause problems may not require treatment. Some cysts disappear on their own. But treatment is necessary for enlarged ranulas, especially when swelling interferes with swallowing or speaking.

What is plunging ranula?

Plunging ranulas are rare cystic masses in the neck that are mucous retention pseudocysts from an obstructed sublingual gland. They “plunge” by extending inferiorly beyond the free edge of the mylohyoid muscle, or through a dehiscence of the muscle itself, to enter the submandibular space.

Is plunging ranula painful?

The most common presentation of ranula is a painless, slow-growing, soft, and movable mass located in the floor of the mouth. Ranula may be simple or plunging. Simple ranula often present as masses in the floor of the mouth, limited to the mucous membranes.

Can ranula be cancerous?

There are reports of plunging ranulas that developed after the excision of a sialolith or transposition of the duct of the submandibular gland. The diagnosis of a plunging ranula is of clinical significance for there are many benign as well as malignant lesions that have the same appearance during physical examination.

Why is it called plunging ranula?

Plunging ranula (PR) otherwise known as cervical ranula is a nonepithelial‐lined salivary gland cyst that forms following mucus escape from sublingual gland and its subsequent herniation via the mylohyoid muscle into submandibular space and beyond.

What causes a plunging ranula?

If there’s an injury to the duct carrying saliva to the mouth from the salivary gland, a blockage could occur. Saliva accumulates in the salivary gland and forms a cyst since it cannot drain properly. This creates a ranula. Similarly, if you get hit in the face or bite your cheek too hard, a ranula could form.

Is ranula serious?

Ranulas do require treatment, but they are not serious in that they are not life threatening and do not typically cause pain. A ranula, if large enough, can lift the tongue and impair chewing, eating, and swallowing.

What are the treatment options for a ranula?

Marsupialization. The simple ranula can be treated several different ways.

Resection of ranula and sublingual gland. The author’s preference for treatment of a ranula is to excise the entire pseudocyst with the sublingual gland.

Combined transcervical and transoral resection of plunging ranula.

Minimally invasive treatment of plunging ranula.

How to treat a ranula?

Use a tiered approach to manage the treatment of oral ranulas.

Perform more traditional surgery to treat an oral ranula.

Drain a cervical ranula with no other treatment.

Eliminate a cervical ranula by completely excising the oral portion of the ranula and the responsible sublingual salivary gland.

What are the treatment options for oral Ranulas?

Incision or needle aspiration: Depending on its size,your doctor can make an incision and drain the cyst to decrease swelling or use a needle to withdraw the fluid.

Marsupialization: The surgeon makes a slit in the cyst and sutures the edges to maintain an opening.

Surgery: This involves removal of the cyst and the damaged sublingual gland.

What is mucocele and ranula?

[edit on Wikidata] A ranula is a mucus extravasation cyst involving a sublingual gland and is a type of mucocele found on the floor of the mouth. Ranulas present as a swelling of connective tissue consisting of collected mucin from a ruptured salivary gland caused by local trauma.