Rectus Muscle Plication in Mini-abdominoplasty with Umbilicus Preservation

Summary: Diastasis recti is a frequent problem that women, particularly, experience after pregnancy. It is an abdominal wall defect in which there is more than 2 cm separation between the abdominal rectus muscles. Aside from being repaired most commonly with a full abdominoplasty, in some cases, diastasis might present with minimal excessive adipocutaneous tissue, thus requiring a mini-abdominoplasty. Because umbilical transposition is not needed in that latter scenario, diastasis repair is only possible by ligating and cutting the existing umbilical stalk to be able to have a direct clear access to the supraumbilical linea alba. However, detaching the umbilical stalk will most certainly lead to the displacement of the umbilicus inferiorly. To overcome this problem, we performed a modified mini-abdominoplasty technique, which repairs the recti diastasis, keeps the umbilical stalk in place, and leaves behind a mini-abdominoplasty scar, thus providing a more cosmetically appealing result in addition to a radical solution to the defect. Moreover, this technique can be performed by any qualified plastic surgeon under basic operating settings.