Umbilical Hernia in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients: Surgical Treatment and Risk Factors

No previous reports have focused on surgical treatments and risk factors of umbilical hernia alone in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Herein, we evaluated the treatments and risk factors. A total of 411 PD patients were enrolled. Of the 15 patients with umbilical hernia (3.6%), six underwent hernioplasty. There was no recurrence in five patients treated with tension-free hernioplasty. The mean PD vintage after onset of hernia in the hernioplasty group tended to be longer than that in the non-hernioplasty group. An incarcerated hernia occurred in one non-hernioplasty patient. Although the incidence was significantly higher among women (P = 0.02), female sex was not a risk factor for umbilical hernia (P = 0.08). Our findings suggest that umbilical hernias should be repaired for continuing PD. Furthermore, there were no significant risk factors for umbilical hernia in PD patients. Future studies with larger sample groups are required to elucidate these risk factors.