Mucocele: Excision to Prevent Recurrence

This 6-year-old child presented with a painless mass on his lower lip. The mass had increased in size slowly during the previous 2 months. Drs Alexander K. C. Leung and Helen Y. H. Cho of Calgary, Alberta, diagnosed the lesion as a mucocele.

A mucocele, a mucus retention cyst, can develop when a minor salivary gland duct is blocked or severed and may occur as the result of trauma. These lesions appear most commonly on the lip and buccal mucosa. Surgical removal of both the lesion and the associated minor salivary gland will prevent recurrence.