Umbilical Hernia and Comorbidities in Children.

Sir,

An umbilical hernia is a common pathology in children, especially in Africa. It arouses interest in this continent because of the complications that are widely reported.[123] Some African authors even systematically recommend surgery as soon as the diagnosis is made.[14] This attitude is adopted in our department. However, a complete clinical examination must be performed before surgery. In fact, umbilical hernia is sometimes associated with other pathologies.

In Dakar, 450 children with umbilical hernia were operated between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2016, at the Department of Pediatric Surgery of Aristide Le Dantec Hospital. Among this children, 120 had a comorbidity corresponding to 26.7%. There were 94 cases of inguinal hernia, 11 cases of hydrocele, 15 cases of white line hernia, and 10 cases of cryptorchidism. There was a predominance of pathologies of the peritoneal-vaginal canal. The search for these comorbidities is important because it allows the concomitant treatment of these pathologies. Furthermore, all our patients who had an associated pathology benefited from concomitant treatment of this comorbidity.

This concomitant treatment prevents a child from having a second surgery and therefore a second anesthesia which can be delicate, especially for infants.

In conclusion, the finding of an umbilical hernia in a child must seek comorbidity which allows the concomitant treatment of umbilical hernia and comorbidity to avoid a second anesthesia for the child.

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Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.