Sublingual ranula: a closer look to its surgical management

Ranulas have been managed by various surgical methods, and the optimal treatment is still controversial. The aim of this study was to analyze a group of 124 surgically treated patients with intraoral ranula to assess 3 different methods: sublingual gland removal combined with the ranula excision, conventional marsupialization, and a variant of the marsupialization technique usually performed in our departments. Recurrence rate was 0% after radical treatment, 25.8% after marsupialization, and 12% after modified marsupialization. We suggest that conservative methods should always be considered as treatment of superficial oral ranulas. The modification of the conventional marsupialization by suturing the edges of the pseudocyst before unroofing of the lesion was demonstrated to be a useful technical strategy that simplifies and accelerates the surgical procedures and probably contributed to preventing recurrences.