Pediatric oral ranula: clinical follow-up study of 57 cases.

OBJECTIVE To present 57 cases of oral ranula in children, analyzing the clinical characteristics, treatment and outcome of these lesions. METHODS The clinical histories of patients diagnosed with oral ranula, seen between 1998 and 2008 at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit of a reference Children 's Hospital (0-14 years) were reviewed. All patients with clinical diagnosis of oral ranula were included. RESULTS Fifty-seven patients, 21 boys and 36 girls, with a mean age of 5.1 years were included in the study. Thirty-two cases were located on the left side of the floor of the mouth. The lesion diameter varied between 1 and 3 cm in 27 cases, 22 were less than 1 cm, and 8 were larger than 3 cm. Fifty-four cases were asymptomatic and 3 ranulas had pain on swallowing. Twenty-two cases were resolved by opening with a tract dilator and 35 by marsupialization. Seven cases recurred at a mean of 12 months after treatment, three of these from the marsupialization group. CONCLUSION The majority of the oral ranulas occurred in females, asymptomatic, on the left side of the floor of the mouth, with a mean size of 1 to 3 cm; all lesions were treated by surgery, of which 7 recurred.