Operative management of urachal remnants: An NSQIP based study of postoperative complications

Purpose The identification of urachal remnants is occurring more in infancy. Despite evidence that nonoperative management is effective, operative management remains common and has a high complication rate. We sought to determine if the complication rate after urachal resection is associated with age. Methods Patients undergoing urachal remnant resection were identified from ACS NSQIP Pediatric from 2013 to 2017. Exclusion criteria included emergent operations, contaminated wounds, and any additional procedures. Patients were compared based on complication rates, need for reoperation or readmission, and length of stay. Results A complication occurred in 16 of 476 patients (3.3%), 6 (1.3%) had reoperation, and 11 (2.3%) were readmitted. The median age for patients requiring reoperation was lower (0.1 years) than those not (1.3 years; p = 0.004). The median age of those readmitted was lower (0.4 years) than those not (1.4 years, p = 0.03), and a weak trend of longer length of stay in younger patients was identified (ρ = − 0.16, p Conclusions Operative management of younger patients resulted in greater risk of reoperation, readmission, and longer length of stay. Given that nonoperative management is effective, it may be of benefit to delay resection of urachal remnants to after 1 year of age. Study type Treatment study. Level of evidence Level III.