Intraoral excision of the sublingual gland: an effective treatment for ranula

Based on the etiology of the ranula, intraoral excision of the sublingual gland is thought to be a recommended treatment for patients with ranula not only in terms of recovery but also for the prevention of recurrence after surgery. In recent years, we have treated these patients by intraoral excision of the ipsilateral sublingual glands. To evaluate the efficacy of this treatment, we clinically studied 17 cases with ranula, treated in our hospitals between January 2010 and December 2014. Eight were male and nine were female. The median age was 26 years and ranged from 8 to 51 years. Fourteen cases were plunging, and the other three cases were simple ranula. Median operation time was 70 minutes, ranging from 44 minutes to 109 minutes. Median duration of hospitalization after surgery was 5 days, ranging from 3 days to 7 days. Five cases (29%) had a history of previous treatment by other than this modality. There were no differences in operation time or duration of hospitalization between cases with and without previous treatment. There were no long-term complications which influenced the duration of hospitalization. Recurrence was not detected in 14 cases in those we could follow up for more than 6 months, nor even in 2 cases with ipsilateral parapharyngeal space extension. These results suggest that intraoral excision of the sublingual gland is an effective treatment for ranula.