Staged approach to the urachal cyst with infected omphalitis

Embryonal urachus exists as a cord-like structure between the urinary bladder and the umbilicus. In some cases of urachal cysts at the level of the navel, no special symptoms are detected during childhood, but spontaneous drainage at the navel may occur after adolescence, which is called an infected urachal cyst. Especially in cases accompanied by infected omphalitis, no constant opinion has been established to choose either initially curative resection or staged incision. In this study, we evaluated the characteristics of patients with urachal cysts who underwent the staged approach. Twenty patients (14 men and 6 women) with urachal cysts complicated by infected omphalitis were treated in our hospital. Staged surgery was performed for 18 patients. Neither recurrent omphalitis nor subsequent urachal carcinoma was observed. It is desirable that urachal cyst accompanied by intractable omphalitis should be treated by conservative therapy, conducted image diagnosis, and chosen staged surgery.