HB provided critical revision of the manuscript. AO carried out the acquisition of the data and helped with the statistical analysis. AA provided critical revision of the manuscript. YK conceived of the study, and participated in its design and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript.”
“Background

The four layered fatty sheet of peritoneum is known as omentum selleck compound and suspends from the greater gastric curvature to surrounding organs with attachments to the diaphragm [1]. selleckchem Omental torsion is caused by twisting of sections of the omentum along its long axis resulting in vascular compromise. First described by Eitel in 1899 it is a rare cause of the acute surgical abdomen [2, 3]. Fewer than 250 cases have been described in the literature so far. Omental torsion is

rarely diagnosed preoperatively and may lead to spontaneous clinical deterioration of the patient [2, 4]. Laparoscopy is the current choice for diagnosis and management [5]. Case History A 44 year old female patient presented to the Emergency Department complaining of generalised abdominal pain for three days, localising to the right iliac PD173074 manufacturer fossa. Accompanying symptoms were nausea and constipation, but bowels had opened on day of presentation. No urinary symptoms, past medical history of note or regular medication were present. On examination the patient was haemodynamically stable and apyrexial. The abdomen was soft, not distended, with localised tenderness selleck screening library in the right iliac fossa without peritonitis. Apart from a mild leukocytosis (11.2 × 109/L), the blood count and serum biochemistry were normal on first presentation. She was initially discharged home, but returned the following day with unresolving symptoms and was referred to the surgical team. Abdominal ultrasound was normal and no appendix mass identified. After two days of observation and non resolving symptoms the patient underwent diagnostic laparoscopy, with a suspicion of appendicitis. On laparoscopy a small amount of blood stained fluid and an inflammatory mass consisting of a section of infarcted omentum and adherent thickened small bowel were identified. Appendix, gallbladder and pelvis showed no

abnormality. The procedure was extended to a mini-laparotomy. The inflammatory mass was dissected and identified as an omental torsion with three twists (Figure 1). The small bowel was normal and intact. The infarcted omentum was resected. Figure 1 Operative picture demonstrating torted omentum section with three twists. Post-operative recovery was without complications and the patient was discharged home two days after surgery. The histology findings confirmed omental torsion characterised by congested vessels, inflammation, necrosis (ischaemic and fat) and fibrinoid exudates (Figures 2 &3). Figure 2 Histology displaying omental torsion characterised by congested vessels, inflammation, necrosis (ischaemic and fat) and fibrinoid exudates.