Presentation and Management Outcome of Umbilical Hernia in Children at the University Teaching Hospital of Brazzaville

Background: This study was aimed at determine the epidemiology, clinical and treatment outcome of childhood umbilical hernia at the University Hospital of Brazzaville.
Methods: It was a retrospective study undertaken conducted over a 15 months period from 1^st January 2014 to 31^st March 2015 in the pediatric surgery department of the University Teaching Hospital of Brazzaville. The study population included both male and female children under the age of 15 who underwent surgery for umbilical hernia. The study variables included the demographic and clinical features and management outcome of patients with umbilical hernias. Xi² test was used to compare categorical variables. The significance threshold was set for a value of p <0.05.
Results: During the period under review, 1152 children were hospitalized, of whom 185 were diagnosed with hernia including 98 (8.5%) who had umbilical hernias, a frequency of 8.5% of all hospitalizations and 53% of hospitalizations for hernias. The sex ratio was 2.3. The average age was 3.8 years (range 1 month to 15 years). Abdominal pain was the most frequent reason for consultation. The neck diameter was less than 1 cm in 51% and greater than 1 cm in 49% of cases. Surgical treatment was done in all our patients. The average hospital stay was 1.5 days. The surgical site infection was the main complication in 6.1% of cases.