Before and after umbilicoplasty in a 47-year-old woman. Her past laparoscopic abdominal surgery developed a postoperative infection and healed with a tight web of scar tissue that made cleaning her belly button difficult and caused a deformity that made her self-conscious about showing her belly to others.
Umbilicoplasty is offered as a stand-alone procedure awake, under local anesthesia with an oral anti-anxiety medication and inhaled laughing gas. Correction of the navel appearance usually involves opening up the old incision and sometimes an incision around the entire belly button. In this case, the scar web was divided and a local tissue rearrangement created a more normal opening to the navel.
Follow up photos are shown 2 months after surgery. She no longer even thinks about her belly button and has finally moved forward after a stressful abdominal surgery recovery.
*All photos are actual patient photographs and are for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may vary.
