Primary Omental Torsion in Children: Report of Two Cases

Primary omental torsion is a rare cause of acute abdomen in children. Its clinical manifestations are so close to those of acute appendicitis that a differentiation between the two diseases is usually impossible before operation. We report two males, aged 8 and 13 years respectively, who suffered from acute abdominal pain and underwent laparotomy for presumed acute appendicitis. Torsion with infarction of a segment of greater omentum was the unexpected finding in both cases. Simple resection of the strangulated omentum was performed, and these two patients recovered uneventfully after operation.