Umbilical Reconstruction Techniques: A Literature Review

Background: There are many instances in which sacrificing the umbilicus is unavoidable. Umbilical reconstruction (umbiliconeoplasty) is an important surgical procedure to complete the abdomen’s reconstruction and to give again a pleasant cosmetic appearance. Objectives: To provide a complete overview of all surgical techniques for umbiliconeoplasty described in the literature. Methods: PubMed database was queried using ‘umbilical and reconstruction’, ‘umbilicus and reconstruction’, ‘navel and reconstruction’, ‘umbiliconeoplasty’, ‘neo-omphaloplasty’ or ‘umbilicaneoplasty’ to select the papers dealing with the reconstruction of the umbilicus. Results: Sixty different techniques for the reconstruction of the missing umbilicus were described in 77 papers. Local skin flaps and the purse-string suture technique were the most frequently described techniques. The Three flaps technique, the Four flaps technique and the 2 Lateral rectangular pedicle lateral flaps technique were the most popular local flap techniques. Indications ranged from congenital pediatric defects to reconstruction during abdominoplasty. Conclusions: Several surgical techniques were described for umbilicus reconstruction. While there is not a universal algorithm for the choice of the technique, the surgeon may decide which technique to use based on other surgeons’ experiences reports. Level of Evidence III: This 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.