The Umbilical region of the human body, located centrally in the mesogastrium region of the abdomen in the mesogastrium proper is medically the most neglected region in today’s practice of medicine. Its importance is only felt when a patient comes with an umbilical or para-umbilical hernia. From the perspective of modern medicine and anatomy, the cavity inside this region is made up by the mesenteric arteries. The abdominal aorta shoots off the first branch, the superior mesenteric artery which again branches off into jejunal and ileal arteries to supply the jejunum and ilium of the large intestine respectively, and the left colic artery which supplies the distal transverse colon and entire descending colon of the large intestine. The next branch which is given off by the abdominal aorta is the inferior mesenteric artery, which again divides into ileocolic, middle colic, and right colic, supplying the parts of ascending colon of the large intestine.
The major importance of umbilicus in today’s practice is in obstetrics. This is the region of connection between the mother and her child during its genesis. In the placental circulation, we see that the two hypogastric arteries from the internal iliac arteries and the umbilical vein from ductus venosus in the liver enters the umbilicus of the developing placental by forming the umbilical cord and makes the fetal part of the placenta and develops into fetal capillaries, separated by intervillous space. But post-partum or after birth the arteries in the newborn baby slowly transform into ligaments, thus losing the functionalities. The Umbilical vein becomes round ligament of the liver, ductus venosus becomes ligamentum venosum of the liver and the umbilical arteries transform into umbilical ligaments distally and proximally superior vesical arteries are found as remnants. Hence, no importance is taken into account of the umbilical region after birth.
But, in the ancient Ayurvedic treaties, much importance has been assigned to this region from the perspective of anatomy and therapy as well. The “father of surgery” Maharshi Sushruta in his Sushruta Samhita has written that umbilicus is like a bed of stream through which prana or blood flows and has also boldly stated that the cutaneous vessels in the umbilicus make a spoke-wheel like network in the region in the anterior abdominal wall. This consideration makes the umbilical region of immense importance, post-partum, in the ayurvedic texts. Even the description of angiogenesis is in tune with the modern understanding of embryonic mesoderm. Recently, an experiment was conducted on a patient with Seborrheic dermatitis and the results have been published in the 9th edition of the eminent journal “International Journal of Ayurveda and Pharma Research”. The findings have put forward questions regarding the pathophysiology of the disease and endocrine function of glands. But it has also put forward questions regarding anatomy. In the experiment, the patient’s umbilicus was drenched with mustard oil every night for 4 months and in the end, a complete cure of Seborrheic dermatitis was observed. As, a side effect of the treatment, increment (although clinically insignificant and safe) of the patient’s serum cholesterol was noted. This is an indication that the mustard oil was absorbed systematically through the umbilicus into the bloodstream for 4 months continuously, according to the paper. Further suggesting the chances for the existence of a network and the possibility for it to be connected with the mesenteric arterial system in the cavity down below. This ayurvedic practice also known as ‘The Pechoti method‘ questions our understanding of functionality and anatomy of the umbilical region in an adult or so as to say post-partum. But without accurate topographical knowledge, here hangs this unsolved symphony of human anatomy.
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