2017 Volume 53 Issue 4 Pages 954-957
A 16-month-old boy presented with cylindrical umbilical hernia the size of the tip of a thumb. We considered him as a candidate for hernia repair surgery and umbilicoplasty. After closing the hernia using a standard procedure, the skin incision line was extended through the umbilical upper fold to the circumferential fold. Redundant skin in the dermal layer was excised, leaving subcutaneous tissue, and then the tissue and skin were circumferentially sutured. Pressure was added to the bottom of the umbilicus using a gauze ball for one week after the surgery to form an umbilical dimple with a near-normal appearance. The appearance and structure of the restructured umbilicus remained near-normal for two years. The skin of most giant umbilical hernias often shrinks over time after umbilicoplasty, therefore causing difficulties while maintaining a near-normal postoperative umbilical structure over the long term. The skin is less likely to shrink after applying our technique because the bottom part of the umbilicus is used, and hiding the incision within the new umbilicus provides a cosmetically satisfactory result. This could be applicable for umbilicoplasty with the redundant skin of proboscoid hernias.
