Abstract
Most umbilical hernias disappear spontaneously by 2 years of age. However, patients who have had a giant umbilical hernia (≧20 mm diameter) in infancy sometimes suffer from an ugly umbilicus with extra large skin even after the spontaneous closure of the umbilical hernia. We present 4 cases of giant umbilical hernia operated in early infancy to discuss the timing of early surgical closure. Operations were performed at the time of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair in 4 female infants from 2012 to 2014. The preoperative circumferences of the umbilicus were 30, 28, 27, and 22 mm. All the patients had a very beautiful umbilicus with a markedly smaller circumference (12–15 mm) 1 month after operation. Early operative repair of umbilical hernia in infancy leads to a reduced circumference of the umbilicus and a beautiful outcome.
