Epigastric hernias in children and the use of ultrasound in its diagnosis

INTRODUCTION: There is a paucity of clinical data on pediatric epigastric hernias despite them accounting for up to 6% of all hernia repairs in children. We aimed to provide additional data to supplement those 117 cases of a recent systematic review and to further clarify the role of ultrasound in diagnosing pediatric epigastric hernia. METHODS: We retrospectively included all 60 patients treated for epigastric hernias in children in two tertiary pediatric surgical departments within 12 years. Associations were tested via point-biserial correlation analyses. RESULTS: Epigastric hernias primarily affected preschool children with a median age of 39 months. The vast majority of patients (88%) presented with swelling that was occasionally (30%) accompanied by pain. Fascial defects could be found during clinical examination in 45% of patients with a median size of 5 mm (95% CI 3 to 10). Smaller defects were less likely to be palpable (r=−0.44, 95% CI −0.08 to −0.7, p=0.021). Likewise, ultrasound was used more frequently with smaller fascial defect sizes (r=−0.51, 95% CI −0.16 to −0.74, p=0.007). Laparoscopic repair was used in 11 patients (19%) and more often (4/11) in combination with another simultaneous procedure than open repair (11/48). CONCLUSIONS: Epigastric hernias are primarily a condition of the preschool child. Ultrasound can be beneficial if the diagnosis cannot be made clinically; otherwise, it is abdicable if it does not change the management of the patient’s epigastric hernia. Laparoscopic repairs might be beneficial for children with multiple defects or simultaneous procedures.