Umbilical hernia repair
- Mr Christian Macutkiewicz, Consultant General and Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary Surgeon
Umbilical hernia repair is an operation to mend a weak area or hole in your tummy wall. ‘Umbilical’ means this is in or near your belly button. The surgery stops parts of the inside of your belly from bulging through the tummy wall. The bulge is called a hernia.
About umbilical hernia repair
If you have a hernia, you’ll have a lump poking through a weak area or hole in your tummy wall. This lump may contain your tummy lining, some fat, or even a loop of your bowel.
Umbilical hernias are common in babies, but these usually go away on their own. If a hernia doesn’t go away as a child grows up, they may need surgery for umbilical hernia treatment. This operation may be needed around the ages of three to five years usually, but sometimes younger.
If you have an umbilical hernia as an adult, part of your bowel may get stuck here. This is called an incarcerated hernia. When a hernia gets trapped like this, the incarceration can also cut off the blood supply to the bowel. This is then known as a strangulated hernia. Whether a hernia is incarcerated or strangulated, it can be dangerous and needs emergency surgery.
Your surgeon may say umbilical hernia surgery is an option that will help you to avoid getting an incarcerated or strangulated hernia.
During umbilical hernia surgery, your surgeon will push the contents of the hernia back into your tummy. They’ll then repair the weak area in your tummy wall.
Preparation for umbilical hernia surgery
Your surgeon will explain how to prepare for your umbilical hernia surgery. If you smoke, they’ll advise you to stop. This is because smoking may make you more likely to get a chest or wound infection, which can slow down your recovery.
An umbilical hernia repair is usually done as a day-case operation. This means you have the operation and go home on the same day. You may need to stay longer though – this depends on how complicated your hernia repair is. You’ll need to arrange for someone to take you home afterwards as you won’t be able to drive.
The surgery is usually done under general anaesthesia. This means you’ll be asleep during the operation. A general anaesthetic can sometimes make you sick, so your surgeon or hospital will give you clear instructions about eating and drinking before your operation. It’s important to follow their advice.
Your nurse or surgeon will discuss with you what will happen before, during, and after your umbilical hernia treatment, including any pain you may have after the procedure. If you’re unsure about anything, it’s important to ask questions. Being fully informed about your surgery will help you to feel more at ease. It also enables you to give your proper consent to go ahead with the procedure. You may be asked to do this by signing a consent form.
Alternatives to umbilical hernia repair
In young children, umbilical hernias often get better on their own, so they may not need surgery. Children may need an operation if the hernia doesn’t go away by the time they’re five years old, or if their hernia is as big as about 2cm.
In adults, the only way to get rid of an umbilical hernia is to have surgery to repair the weakness in the tummy wall. Having this umbilical hernia surgery helps to prevent a serious complication of a hernia. It reduces the chance of a piece of bowel or other tissue getting trapped in the hernia.
If you’re pregnant and have an umbilical hernia, you’ll usually be advised to wait. You’ll usually have the surgery after you’ve given birth. Having the hernia shouldn’t affect your pregnancy or the delivery of your baby.
You’ll usually need to have the operation during pregnancy only if the hernia is incarcerated or strangulated. This is when a piece of your bowel gets stuck in the hernia. A general anaesthetic could affect your baby’s health, so surgeons recommend surgical repair only when it is essential.
What happens during umbilical hernia surgery?
You may have an umbilical hernia repair as:
- open surgery
- keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery
Your surgeon will be able to say which type of operation they believe would be the best option for you. The open umbilical hernia surgery usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes and a keyhole surgical repair takes about 45 minutes. Larger hernias can take longer to repair.
You can have an umbilical hernia repair with or without mesh. Your surgeon is more likely to recommend having mesh with your surgery if your hernia is bigger than 2cm.
Open surgery
Your surgeon will make a small cut just above or below your belly button and will push the hernia back into place. If the hernia is small, they’ll stitch the weak area in your tummy wall. If the hernia is larger, your surgeon will probably repair the area with a piece of synthetic mesh. They’ll close the cut, usually with dissolvable stitches, and cover it with a dressing.
Keyhole surgery
Your surgeon will make two to four small cuts in your tummy, away from the hernia. They’ll then insert a tube-like telescopic camera. This is called a laparoscope – it shows the hernia on a screen. Your surgeon will inflate your tummy with carbon dioxide to give them more room to operate. To repair the hernia, your surgeon will put surgical instruments inside your tummy through the small cuts. They will fix a synthetic mesh to the muscle around the hernia using staples or stitches. Last, they’ll close the cuts, usually with dissolvable stitches, and cover them with a dressing.
Aftercare for umbilical hernia repair
After your umbilical hernia surgery, you may feel some discomfort or pain as the anaesthetic wears off. Tell your nurse or doctor if you need some pain relief.
You’ll usually be able to go home the same day as your operation, as soon as you feel ready.
A general anaesthetic can continue to affect you for a while after you wake up. Do not drive, drink alcohol, use machinery, or make important decisions for 24 hours after your anaesthetic.
If your hernia was large or the repair was complicated, you may have a fine drainage tube sticking out from the wound. You may need to stay in hospital until this is taken out. Ask your surgeon for more information if you have a drainage tube.
Your nurse will give you advice about caring for your healing wound before you go home. It’s important to keep the area of your operation clean and dry. You may need to avoid swimming or soaking in a bath until any staples, stitches, or dressings have been removed. You may be given a date for a follow-up appointment. Dissolvable stitches take different times to disappear. Fast-absorbing ones will go within 30 days while slow ones take longer.
Recovering from umbilical hernia repair
People recover differently from umbilical hernia surgery. Umbilical hernia surgery recovery time can be a few weeks, or it may take you a few months to get back to your usual activities. How long it takes will depend on your general health as well as how complicated your umbilical hernia treatment was.
You’ll have small scars. These will heal in around two weeks. The scars will usually get softer and fade gradually for up to a year. If you had open surgery, the size of your scar will depend on how big your hernia was. If you had keyhole surgery, most scars are 0.5 to 1cm.
Easing any discomfort
You may get some pain in the first few days after your umbilical hernia repair. If you need pain relief, you can take over-the-counter painkillers, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. Always read the patient information that comes with your medicine. If you have any questions, ask your pharmacist for advice.
For a while after your surgery, you may find it helpful to hold your hand over your tummy when you cough or move. This can give you support to ease any discomfort.
It’s important to try to avoid constipation after an umbilical hernia repair. This is because straining to do a poo can put pressure on your tummy where you had the surgery.
Back to your routine
Getting back to your normal routine can help you recover from surgery. But you’ll need to take it easy in the first few days. And when you start doing more activities, build them up slowly.
You may be able to get back to your normal activities after a week or two – as long as they don’t cause you any pain. Check with your surgeon first, but you should be able to go for walks, a gentle jog, a light bike ride, or exercise in the first two weeks.
Your surgeon may advise you to wait for six to eight weeks before you do any strenuous exercise, weightlifting, hard cycling, or strenuous swimming. You should wait six weeks before you have any strenuous sex as this also aids recovery.
Getting back to normal
If you work, you should be able to go back once you feel up to it. Again, your surgeon can give individual advice. You may feel ready for light work a few days after your surgery. But you may be off work longer if tasks put a strain on your tummy muscles.
You shouldn’t drive until you’ve recovered well enough to be completely in control of your vehicle – while wearing a seatbelt of course. Ask your surgeon about when you should be able to drive again. You won’t have to tell the DVLA about your hernia surgery (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) unless you still can’t drive safely three months on.
Side-effects of umbilical hernia repair
After an umbilical hernia repair, you may have:
- some pain, discomfort, and bruising in your tummy – this should gradually get better over a couple of weeks
- some tightness in your tummy muscles, like you’ve done sit-ups – this is completely normal and will usually settle down after a couple of weeks
- some numbness around your belly button – this will take a while to get better and, with some larger hernias, may not go away completely
If you had keyhole surgery, you may get pain in your shoulder because of the carbon dioxide gas your surgeon put inside your tummy during the procedure. It may help to get up and walk around a bit to ease this.
Complications of umbilical hernia surgery
Complications are problems that can happen during or after an operation. Your surgeon will let you know how likely these are.
Complications of an umbilical hernia repair include the following.
- You may get a surgical wound infection. You may be less likely to get this if you have keyhole surgery.
- Your wound may bleed after the operation.
- Your umbilical hernia may come back – called a recurrent hernia. This is more likely to happen if you smoke, are overweight or your wound gets infected.
- You may get a collection of fluid, called a seroma, under your wound. This may go away on its own or may need to be drained with a needle.
Contact your hospital or GP if you:
- have pain that doesn’t go away or gets worse
- have a raised temperature or chills
- keep vomiting
- have a smelly discharge from your wound, or it looks red and swollen
- haven’t been able to have a poo for three days after your operation
General anaesthesia
General anaesthesia is when medication is given to make you temporarily unconscious during an operation, so don't feel pain or other sensations.
Abdominal hernia
An abdominal hernia is a bulge or swelling. It happens when some of the contents inside your abdomen (tummy), such as fat or bowel, push through a weakness in your abdominal wall.
How to take care of your surgical wound
Did our Umbilical hernia repair information help you?
We’d love to hear what you think.∧ Our short survey takes just a few minutes to complete and helps us to keep improving our health information.
∧ The health information on this page is intended for informational purposes only. We do not endorse any commercial products, or include Bupa's fees for treatments and/or services. For more information about prices visit: www.bupa.co.uk/health/payg
This information was published by Bupa's Health Content Team and is based on reputable sources of medical evidence. It has been reviewed by appropriate medical or clinical professionals and deemed accurate on the date of review. Photos are only for illustrative purposes and do not reflect every presentation of a condition.
Any information about a treatment or procedure is generic, and does not necessarily describe that treatment or procedure as delivered by Bupa or its associated providers.
The information contained on this page and in any third party websites referred to on this page is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice nor is it intended to be for medical diagnosis or treatment. Third party websites are not owned or controlled by Bupa and any individual may be able to access and post messages on them. Bupa is not responsible for the content or availability of these third party websites. We do not accept advertising on this page.
- Umbilical hernia repair. British Association of Paediatric Surgeons www.baps.org.uk, published March 2017
- Umbilical hernia repair. Medscape. emedicine.medscape.com, updated August 2021
- Umbilical hernia. BMJ Best Practice. bestpractice.bmj.com, last reviewed January 2022
- Coste AH, Jaafar S, Parmely JD. Umbilical hernia. StatPearls Publishing. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books, last updated July 2021
- General surgery. Oxford Handbook of Operative Surgery (online). 3rd ed. Oxford Medicine Online. oxfordmedicine.com, published online May 2017
- Henriksen NA, Montgomery A, Kaufmann R, et al. Guidelines for treatment of umbilical and epigastric hernias from the European Hernia Society and Americas Hernia Society. Br J Surg 2020; 107(3):171–90. doi: 10.1002/bjs.11489
- Caring for someone recovering from a general anaesthetic or sedation. 2nd ed. Royal College of Anaesthetists. www.rcoa.ac.uk, published November 2021
- Anaesthesia explained. Royal College of Anaesthetists. www.rcoa.ac.uk, published March 2021
- You and your anaesthetic. Royal College of Anaesthetists. www.rcoa.ac.uk, published February 2020
- Skills reminder. Oxford Handbook of Emergency Nursing (online). 2nd ed. Oxford Medicine Online. oxfordmedicine.com, published online October 2016
- Anaesthesia explained. How did it all go? Royal College of Anaesthetists. www.rcoa.ac.uk, published March 2021
- Peri-operative analgesia. NICE British National Formulary. bnf.nice.org.uk, last updated February 2022
- Groin hernia repair. Royal College of Surgeons. www.rcseng.ac.uk, accessed February 2022
- Constipation. NICE British National Formulary. bnf.nice.org.uk, last updated February 2022
- Minimally invasive surgery. Patient. patient.info, last reviewed January 2013
- Laparoscopy. The MSD Manuals. www.msdmanuals.com, last full review/revision April 2021
- Common postoperative complications. Patient. patient.info, last reviewed November 2020
- Gioacchini M, Bottoni M, Grassetti L, et al. A simple, reliable, and inexpensive method for seroma drainage. Arch Plast Surg 2015; 42(3):36–62. doi:10.5999/aps.2015.42.3.361
- Kulacoglu H. Umbilical hernia repair and pregnancy: Before, during, after . . . Front Sur 2018; 5:1. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2018.00001
- Ravindra Gl, Madamangalam AS, Seetharamaiah S. Anaesthesia for non-obstetric surgery in obstetric patients. Indian J Anaesth 2018; 62(9):710–16. doi: 10.4103/ija.IJA_463_18
- Personal communication. Mr Christian Macutkiewicz, Consultant General and Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary Surgeon, May 2022
- Markus MacGill, Content editor
