Omental torsion, a rare cause of acute surgical abdomen

Abstract

Torsion of the greater omentum is a rare cause of acute abdominal pain. The symptoms of this pathology are non-specific and abdominal CT is usually necessary to make the diagnosis. Treatment is surgical and can often be performed laparoscopically.

Unusual cause of acute abdomen in a child – torsion of greater omentum: report of two cases

“…5,6 The male and obese patients are at greatest risk. 7 Omental torsion is classified as primary when no coexisting causative condition is identified, but it can occur in various conditions, such as omentum bifid and obesity or secondary in association with causative condition such as a hernia, tumour or adhesion.…”

Omental torsion; an unusual case of acute abdomen. Case report

“…Since the symptoms are nonspecific, and since it is a rare disease, the most common differential diagnoses are acute appendicitis, acute cholecystitis, acute diverticulitis, peptic ulcer disease or infarction of an epiploic appendix. In women of reproductive age, salpingitis, torsion of the ovarian cyst and ectopic pregnancy are the main differential diagnoses [1] , [3] , [6] , [12] .…”

“…Laparoscopy allows for a confirmatory diagnosis, evaluation of the severity ofdistal ischemia of the omentum due to torsion, as well as omental resection or detorsion of the greater omentum. In most cases, intraoperative conversion to laparotomy is not required since evacuation of the resected specimen can be accomplished through the trocar sites [4] , [7] , [12] .…”