Treatments to Avoid Ranula Recurrence: A Network Meta-Analysis

Oral and plunging ranulas require effective treatment strategies to minimize recurrence; yet no consensus exists on the most effective approach.

This systematic review evaluated several treatments for the recurrence of oral and plunging ranulas.

A comprehensive search was conducted in five bibliographic databases and gray literature. Randomized and non-randomized studies were included if they investigated treatment approaches for oral or plunging ranulas. Two independent reviewers screened studies, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. The primary outcome was recurrence of (1) oral and (2) plunging ranula. For each type of ranula, a random-model frequentist network meta-analysis (NMA) was established for seven treatment strategies: enucleation, micromarsupialization, marsupialization, marsupialization with packing, partial sublingual gland excision, sublingual gland excision, and sublingual gland excision plus submandibular gland excision. A minimal important difference (MID) and the GRADE approach for NMA were used for interpretation of data.

Eighteen studies were included (all non-randomized-14 for oral ranula and six for plunging ranula). No treatment demonstrated clear superiority in preventing recurrence. Certainty of evidence was low to very low for oral ranulas and very low for plunging ranulas, primarily due to the risk of bias, imprecision, and intransitivity.

Given the low certainty of evidence, no single treatment can be considered superior to others. Future research should prioritize longer follow-up randomized controlled trials.