title: Symptomatic Floor-of-Mouth Swelling with Neck Extension in a 14-Year-Old Girl.
abstract: A plunging ranula is a soft-tissue mass stemming from a mucous extravasation cyst of the sublingual gland which can herniate through the mylohyoid muscle. We describe a case in which a 14-year-old girl presented with a rapidly expanding mass on the floor of her mouth affecting her ability to swallow and speak and causing tracheal compression. The patient was initially managed conservatively with antibiotics and steroids; however, the mass continued to expand necessitating emergent bedside incision and drainage and subsequent surgical intervention. The pathophysiology and management options for ranulas are also discussed herein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dayton
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ryan