Surgical exploration of primary umbilical and inguinal canal endometriosis: a cutaneous conundrum

Article Text Abstract Primary cutaneous endometriosis and inguinal endometriosis (IEM) are rare, representing less than 1% and under 0.6% of extragenital and extrapelvic endometriosis, respectively. Co-occurrence in the same patient is exceedingly rare, with a frequency as low as 5 cases per 100 000. This case presents the first instance of a patient simultaneously afflicted with both types. Endometriosis involves the ectopic presence of endometrial tissue, with primary umbilical endometriosis (PUE) localised in the umbilicus without prior surgery, and IEM affecting the inguinal canal. In a nulliparous woman in her early 30s, lacking surgical history, the diagnosis of PUE, IEM and pelvic endometriosis was made following presentation with chronic pelvic pain and a painful umbilical nodule. This report aims to delineate the presentation, diagnosis and surgical management of patients with umbilical and IEM, shedding light on these rare manifestations. - Obstetrics, gynaecology and fertility - Obstetrics and gynaecology Statistics from Altmetric.com Footnotes Contributors SH, MS, RP and AB-R were responsible for drafting the text, sourcing and editing clinical images, investigation results, drawing original diagrams and algorithms and critical revision for important intellectual content. SH and AB-R gave final approval of the manuscript. SH is the guarantor. Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy. Competing interests None declared. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.