Intraoral Excision of Ranula

A simple, or oral, ranula is a salivary pseudocyst consisting of an extraglandular, extraductal collection of saliva located in the floor of the mouth; it consequently lacks a true epithelial lining. It typically presents as a soft, submucosal swelling in the floor of the mouth to either side of the midline. The term originates from the Latin word for frog (rana) as the cyst is said to look like the belly of a frog. Simple excision, marsupialisation, and sclerotherapy of the pseudocyst are all described but are associated with high recurrence rates. Excision of the ipsilateral sublingual salivary gland has been shown to be effective for both simple and plunging ranulae.