Umbilical hernia repair in conjunction with abdominoplasty: a surgical technique to maintain umbilical blood supply.

Abdominal wall hernias are often diagnosed on clinical examination or encountered intraoperatively during an abdominoplasty. Traditional surgical techniques for abdominoplasty and umbilical hernia repair, when performed simultaneously, can potentially compromise the vascular supply to the umbilicus. The authors describe a simplified surgical technique for the correction of umbilical hernias in conjunction with abdominoplasty. This procedure avoids any fascial incisions immediately adjacent to the umbilicus, thereby maintaining a maximal blood supply to the umbilical stalk. Over a six-year period, 17 patients underwent the described procedure. None have had a recurrence of their hernia or umbilical necrosis, and the aesthetics of the umbilicus have been improved.