Management of giant omphalocele with a simple and efficient nonsurgical silo

Giant omphaloceles can be a challenge for pediatric surgeons and neonatologists worldwide. It is a rare and low-frequency congenital anomaly with no standardized management schemes or treatment protocols. Over the past few decades, we have developed a simple and efficient staged management for giant omphaloceles that allows definitive closure in the neonatal period, the results of which we outline in this report.

With IRB approval, a retrospective and multicentric cohort study was carried out between 1994 and 2019 with patients with giant omphalocele defined as an abdominal wall defect greater than 5 cm in diameter and/or that contains more than 50% of the liver within the sac. We included all patients managed with the nonsurgical silo technique. Data on demographics, gestational age, associated malformations, amnion reduction and inversion time, anatomic closure, requirement of a mesh, intra- and post-silo complications, mortality and follow-up were collected. The technique consists of the construction of a silo with an adhesive hydrocolloid dressing (Duoderm^Ⓡ) to achieve an omphalocele staged-reduction until complete abdominal reintegration of the liver and bowel preservation of the amnion sac. This also enables the simulation of abdominal closure before definitive surgical closure, being managed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Forty patients, 21 of whom were female, were managed with this technique. The average weight was 2900 gs (890-3900), and the median gestational age was 38 weeks (28-40). In total, 37.5% of cases had an associated comorbidity. The average silo reduction time was 7.3 days (0-35), the average time of amnion inversion was 5 days (2-9), and the average time to closure was 14.6 days (6-38). Anatomical closure was achieved in 95% of cases. In 4 patients, an absorbable mesh was used to reinforce the anatomical closure, and in 2 patients (5%), a mesh (Dualmesh^Ⓡ) was required to achieve an abdominal closure. There was no mortality associated with this nonsurgical silo technique. The average follow-up time was 60 (6 - 288) months.

The staged silo management of giant omphalocele in this series is safe and effective and reduces the time to closure and potential morbidity and mortality compared with traditional surgical or medical management.