Abstract
Purpose: We previously reported the cases of four patients presenting with giant umbilical hernia (≧20 mm diameter) operated in early infancy. All the patients had good cosmetic outcome of the umbilicus with a markedly smaller circumference.Methods: This time, we compared the circumference of the umbilicus after giant umbilical hernia surgery between 10 patients of the early surgical timing group (1–4 months old) and 8 patients of the normal surgical timing group (1–2 years old).Results: In the early surgical timing group, the mean diameter of the umbilicus markedly decreased from 26.7 to 13.3 mm, whereas in normal surgical timing group, the mean diameter decreased from 26 to 21.5 mm (P < 0.01).Conclusions: Early surgical closure of umbilical hernia is easy and results in a reduced circumference of the umbilicus and good cosmetic outcome compared with the normal timing of surgery.
