An umbilical hernia is a "hernia" of the abdominal wall at the navel. It often occurs immediately after birth in infancy. The cause is an incomplete formation of the abdominal wall at the navel, which leaves a small gap through which abdominal contents, e.g. fatty tissue or parts of the intestine, can protrude.

Boys and girls are affected equally often, children with dark skin have the highest rate of umbilical hernias. Umbilical hernias usually become apparent in the first 6 months of life, there is an accumulation with very low birth weight, so 2/3 of premature babies with a birth weight of less than 1500 g have an umbilical hernia.

On clinical examination, a visible and palpable soft protrusion is found directly on the navel or the navel itself. The size of the protrusion can vary greatly, sometimes only a tiny gap in the abdominal wall can be felt. The hernia may not immediately slide back into the abdominal cavity, especially if the baby cries a lot. In contrast to infantile umbilical hernias, however, they have a very low incarceration tendency.

Umbilical hernias usually regress in the first two years of life. Umbilical hernias with a hernial orifice of more than 1.5 cm show a lower tendency to spontaneous closure, so that early surgery can be planned here.

Nevertheless, umbilical hernias rarely need to be surgically closed due to the very high spontaneous regression rate in the first years of life. As a rule, it is possible to wait until the third to sixth year of life, unless the hernia continues to enlarge or causes obvious discomfort.

If the umbilical hernia does not close spontaneously or causes clinical symptoms, we recommend surgical closure. This can be performed in a planned manner at a time that suits the family.

The first point of contact is always an outpatient consultation at our pediatric surgery outpatient clinic (see below for contact details). Once we have confirmed your child's umbilical hernia, we will explain the treatment options and discuss your questions in detail. Additional examinations using imaging techniques such as ultrasound are not usually necessary. If an operation is necessary, a comprehensive and detailed explanation of the planned procedure will be given. The consultation with the anesthetist should also take place on this day.

For the planned operation, your child and accompanying person will come to the (outpatient) day clinic early in the morning. From there, your child will be taken to the operating theater while the accompanying person can wait in the day room. During the operation under general anesthesia, an incision is made at the lower edge of the umbilicus to open up the hernia and close it with strong sutures. The previously detached umbilicus is then fixed to the abdominal wall in order to achieve a cosmetically pleasing result.

After the procedure, your child will initially remain in the recovery area, where you will be able to sit up in bed again. After a recovery period on our ward, you will be discharged depending on your child's condition, but at the latest in the early afternoon.