A congenital umbilical hernia occurs through a weak umbilical scar, usually the result of neonatal sepsis. It occurs in children and infants, especially in black children. Males are affected twice as frequently as females.
The patient may be asymptomatic but as the hernia increases in size, there may be pain, and crying. The hernia is originally spherical. It becomes increasingly conical as it grows. Below the age of three years, obstruction or strangulation is uncommon. Many close spontaneously during the first year of life.
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