Before and after umbilicoplasty in a 46-year-old woman who was having abdominal-based breast reconstruction. She had an umbilical hernia that was bulging into the right side of her belly button. She was excited that this would be corrected at the same time as her surgery.
During DIEP flap harvest, an incision was made around her belly button (umbilicus) to preserve its blood supply. Following elevation of skin and fat from her lower abdomen as a deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap, the small hernia/outpouching of preperitoneal fat was reduced back into the abdominal cavity.
At the end of the procedure, her corrected belly button was brought out through a new skin opening in the abdominal wall, just as for a tummy tuck. Follow up photos are shown 6 weeks after surgery. The incision around the umbilicus will gradually fade, and her umbilicus now has a more normal contour.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
