Laparoscopic versus open surgical treatment of umbilical hernia

Umbilical hernia is one of the types of ventral hernias of the abdominal wall and it represents the externalization of a part of the abdominal contents through a defect of the anterior abdominal wall located in the umbilical region. It is estimated that more than 20 million abdominal wall hernia surgeries are performed worldwide each year. The paper presents a retrospective study on the patients diagnosed with umbilical hernia and admitted to the First and Second Surgery Departments of the Sibiu County Emergency Clinical Hospital. The study includes 82 cases diagnosed with umbilical hernias over a period of 4 years, between 01.01.2017 and 31.12.2020. Open and laparoscopic surgical techniques are compared in terms of outcomes and postoperative complications. Most cases of umbilical hernia were within the age group 51-70 years, with a slightly higher incidence in males. Arterial hypertension and obesity were the most frequent comorbidities. The alloplastic, classic or laparoscopic procedure became the most widely used due to benefits such as: rapid socio-professional reintegration, short-term hospitalization and low incidence of relapses and postoperative complications. The current trend is for the IPOM laparoscopic procedure to become the gold standard in the treatment of umbilical hernias.