Abstract
This report describes a preservative treatment of plunging ranula by sclerotherapy with a local injection of hypertonic glucose solution (HGS). An 18-year-old man was referred to our clinic with a chief complaint of swelling of the left submandibular region on September X, 2008. At the first visit, the face of the patient was asymmetrical, with diffuse, painless swelling. The overlying skin of the region was of normal color, and palpation revealed a soft mass, 6.5 × 5 cm in size, with fluctuation. Oral examination showed no particularity. T2-weighted MRI findings showed a cystic lesion with a high signal intensity in the left submandibular space. A clinical diagnosis of plunging ranula was made, and sclerotherapy was performed on September X and X. Twenty milliliters of viscid internal fluid was aspirated from the cystic lesion with an 18G needle under local anesthesia, and then 50% HGS (10 ml), half the volume of the internal fluid aspirated, was injected into the lesion. The postoperative course was uneventful, with no complications. Although the swelling had increased again one week after the treatment, significant regression of the lesion started one and a half months after the sclerotherapy, and the lesion disappeared almost completely in two months. There has been no evidence of recurrence in the two years and two months since the treatment. We conclude that local injection therapy with HGS is an effective and safe method for the treatment of plunging ranula.
