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Prevalence of urachal remnants in children according to age and their anatomic variants

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to elucidate the prevalence of urachal remnants in children in relation to patient age as well as to identify their anatomic variants, using a laparoscopic view.

Methods

The medical records of 394 pediatric patients who underwent laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair were reviewed. Patients were divided into four groups based on their age at surgery. Using laparoscopic visualization, the presence and anatomic variants of urachal remnants were analyzed.

Results

A urachal remnant was confirmed in 140 children (35.5%). Although the prevalence was significantly higher in the group of children aged < 1 year (63.2%) than in any other group, no significant difference in the prevalence was observed between the groups aged ≥ 1 year. In 42 cases (10.7%), the urachal remnant merged into the lateral umbilical ligament.

Conclusions

Our results suggest a recommendation of nonoperative management of asymptomatic urachal remnants, especially in patients less than 1 year of age due to its probable spontaneous resolution. Knowledge of the anatomic variants could improve the accuracy of diagnosis of urachal remnants and the comprehension of its structure and localization for the achievement of accurate and complete excision.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Hyogo College of Medicine Grant for Research Promotion, 2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawacho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 663-8501, Japan

    Masahiro Zenitani, Satoko Nose & Takaharu Oue

Authors
  1. Masahiro Zenitani
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  2. Satoko Nose
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  3. Takaharu Oue
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Contributions

Conception or design of the work: MZ; acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: MZ; drafting or revising of the manuscript: MZ, SN; final approval of the version to be published: TO. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masahiro Zenitani.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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The authors have no conflicts of interest associated with this manuscript.

Ethical standards

This study was approved by the Ethics Committees of Hyogo College of Medicine (IRB number: 3700).

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Zenitani, M., Nose, S. & Oue, T. Prevalence of urachal remnants in children according to age and their anatomic variants. Pediatr Surg Int 38, 1495–1500 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-022-05183-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-022-05183-2

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