Summary

Background:

The traditional surgical approach to the excision of persistent urachal remnants is a lower midline laparotomy or semicircular infraumbilical incision.

Objectives:

To report our experience with laparoscopic/open urachus excision as a minimally invasive diagnostic and surgical technique.

Methods:

This was a retrospective study involving patients who were diagnosed with persistent urachus and underwent laparoscopic/open excision. The morbidity, recovery, and outcomes of surgery were reviewed.

Results:

Eight patients (males:females 6:2) with an age range of 1 month to 17 years underwent laparoscopic or open excision (six and two patients respectively). All patients presented with discharge from the umbilicus. Although three patients had no sonographic evidence of a patent urachus, diagnostic laparoscopy detected a patent urachus that was excised laparoscopically. The operative time of laparoscopic surgery ranged from 19 to 71 minutes (the last case was combined with bilateral laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair), and the mean duration of hospital stay was 2.0 ± 0.36 days. Pathological examination confirmed a benign urachal remnant in all cases.

Conclusions:

Laparoscopy is a useful alternative for the management of persistent or infected urachus, especially when its presence is clinically suspected despite the lack of sonographic evidence. The procedure is associated with low morbidity, although a small risk of bladder injury exists, particularly in cases of severe active inflammation.