ABSTRACT

Primary Omental Torsion (POT) is a very rare cause of acute abdomen mimicking acute appendicitis in children. In the pediatric age group the clinical presentation and laboratory findings are similar to those of acute appendicitis, and it is extremely difficult to diagnose preoperatively. We would like to share our experiences here. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of children diagnosed for POT, from September 2005 to September 2010 at our department. Among 768 children operated on for acute appendicitis, four patients were diagnosed with POT. We discussed the POT patient’s clinical presentation, laboratory findings, diagnostic imaging results as well as surgical and pathologic findings in this study. The mean age of patients was 10.2 years (8-12 years). All patient weight percentages were over 90% for their age group and all of them were obese. These patients were operated on with the diagnosis of acute appendicitis, the appendix was normal and ischemic omental torsion was seen in the lower right quadrant. In this retrospective study, we present our experience in four children with POT and discuss the diagnostic and therapeutic implications of this entity.

Keywords: Omentum torsion, obesity, child