A rare case report of Oral Ranula: an insight into its diagnosis, differential diagnosis & treatment modalities

Abstract

Lesions in the floor of the mouth pose a challenging situation both clinically & surgically because this area exhibits tightly netted vital structures. Any infection/lesion could lead to its spread to mediastinum making the surgeons treatments modalities difficult. The lesion in this region ranges from most benign ranula to sinister carcinomas. Ranula is type of mucocele occurring in the lateral side of the floor of the mouth which is closely related to vital structures like the sublingual gland & lingual nerve. The terminology ranula represents the swelling which resembles a frog’s translucent underbelly. Ranulas are characteristically large, appears as translucent bluish fluctuant dome shaped swelling. While diagnosing, careful differential diagnosis should be carried out to rule out the other lesions occurring in the floor of the mouth like the lipoma, dermoid cyst, abscess, salivary gland lesions and vascular lesions. This paper highlights the clinical parameters, radiographic methods helping in differential diagnosis of ranula & treatment options available. Here we present a case of ranula occurring in lateral of floor of the mouth & its successful treatment by excision of the lesion.