Retrograde Umbilical Hernia Repair During Abdominoplasty: A Safe and Simple Technique

BackgroundAbdominoplasties are a very common procedure that is geared toward improving the abdominal contour and restoring quality of life. Main candidates for surgery are postpartum patients and patients after massive weight lost results in excess skin. The high incidence of umbilical hernias in the general population raises the question of whether combining its repair with cosmetic abdominoplasties is a safe and effective procedure.PurposeDetermine the safety of the "retrograde umbilical hernia" (RUH) technique, which utilizes a pre-peritoneal approach to the hernia, during abdominoplasty procedure and expand the literature on hernia repair during aesthetic abdominal surgery.MethodsThis is the retrospective cohort study of all patients that underwent abdominoplasty by the senior author. Eligible patients were divided into 2 groups: where one group included all patients who underwent abdominoplasty with RUH repair, and the second group underwent sole abdominoplasty. Baseline variables, surgical notes, and post-operative outcomes were obtained from the patients' medical records and analyzed for the purpose of this study.ResultsIn total, 744 patients underwent abdominoplasties during the course of our study, 112 of which underwent concomitant umbilical hernia repair using the retrograde technique. The RUH technique was not found to result in a higher rate of complications compared to a similar population of traditional abdominoplasties.ConclusionsThe retrograde umbilical hernia repair is a safe and efficient technique that can be easily implemented during abdominoplasty procedures in a heterogeneous population of patients.Level of Evidence IIIThis journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.