Transperitoneal laparoscopic umbilical resection of urachal remnants: a feasible surgical method

BACKGROUND: To date, there is no standard established laparoscopic surgical method for managing urachal remnants because of their rarity, and several questions remain unanswered. Are there any problems for considering the operative indications about patients’ factors for example, body mass index and so on? This study aimed to determine the feasible surgical method for managing urachal remnants and presents the operative outcomes of our cases in relation to the findings from the existing literature. METHODS: We analyzed the data of 16 patients (7 women and 9 men; age range, 19–48 years) who underwent surgery for urachal remnants between January 2013 and March 2019 at our institution. RESULTS: In our cases, all urachal remnants were urachal sinuses, and the primary complaints were umbilical pain and pus discharge. Most of these symptoms were controlled using umbilical drainage and oral antibiotic intake; however, incisional drainage was required in two cases. In all cases, we performed a laparoscopic resection of the urachal remnants; one patient underwent an open conversion due to a very thick abdominal wall. Therefore, “peri-umbilical distanse” was proposed as an index to verify the periumbilical abdominal wall thickness. This index may clear the difficulties of the laparoscopic resection of the urachal remnunts. A postoperative complication—local infection that was treated using re-suturing—was observed in one patient. No adverse events occurred in the other cases. Our method was appropriate because it allowed for complete urachal resection with good cosmetic results, i.e., a small and natural scar appearance. Additionally, if bladder injury occurred, bladder re-suturing was easily possible because of the laparoscopic port’s position. CONCLUSIONS: We present an feasible method for laparoscopic urachal resection. This method may be recommended for young patients with an peri-umbilical distanse of < 2 cm. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12894-023-01229-2.