Does Concomitant Umbilical Hernia Repair Increase the Risk of Complications in Abdominoplasty? A Propensity Score Matched Analysis.

Background: Patients seeking cosmetic abdominoplasty often have umbilical hernias. Optimal management and safety of concomitant umbilical hernia repair with abdominoplasty is not well described.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to compare complication rates following abdominoplasty with or without umbilical hernia repair.

Methods: A retrospective propensity score matched cohort study of patients who underwent an abdominoplasty at Massachusetts General Hospital was performed. Direct umbilical hernia repair was performed by making a fascial slit inferior or superior to the umbilical stalk. The fascial edges were approximated with up to three 0-Ethibond sutures (Ethicon, Raritan, NJ) from the preperitoneal or peritoneal space. Propensity score matching was used to adjust for confounding variables.

Results: The authors identified 231 patients with a mean [standard deviation] age of 46.7 [9.7] years and a mean BMI of 25.9 [4.4] kg/m2. Nine (3.9%) had diabetes, 8 (3.5%) were active smokers, and the median number of previous pregnancies was 2. In total, 223 (96%) had a traditional abdominoplasty, whereas 8 (3.5%) underwent a fleur-de-lys approach. Liposuction was performed on 90%, and 45.4% underwent simultaneous breast or body contouring surgery. The overall complication rate was 6.9%. Propensity scores matched 61 pairs in each group (n = 122) with closely aligned covariates. There was no significant difference in total complication rates between abdominoplasty alone vs abdominoplasty with hernia repair. There were no cases of skin necrosis or umbilical necrosis in either group.

Conclusions: Performing umbilical hernia repair with abdominoplasty is safe when utilizing the technique reported in this series.