History:

Mucoceles are cystic collections of mucin following the rupture of a minor salivary gland duct and release of sialomucin into the lamina propria of the lower lip and only rarely elsewhere on the oral mucosa. They arise suddenly as painless, soft, bluish, dome-shaped, translucent, fluctuant, cystic nodules usually < 1 cm in diameter and contain a clear, viscous fluid. Care must be taken to exclude a cystic neoplasm particularly in a lesion in the upper lip which might appear to be a mucocele. Excision and cryosurgery are the usual means of treatment. This patient had mucocele of the upper lip treated with excision and suturing but it recurred back after 5 months. Note the scar of previous operation in the center of the recurred mucocele.