Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Nov 27, 2021; 13(11): 1497-1508
Published online Nov 27, 2021. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v13.i11.1497
Is omentectomy necessary in the treatment of benign or malignant abdominal pathologies? A systematic review
Arif Atay, Osman Nuri Dilek
Arif Atay, Osman Nuri Dilek, Department of Surgery, İzmir Katip Celebi University School of Medicine, Atatürk Education and Research Hospital, İzmir 35150, Turkey
Author contributions: Atay A wrote the majority of the paper, collected the data; and Dilek ON performed analysis and interpretation of the data, critical revisions of the manuscript and coordinated the writing of the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The manuscript has been prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist including the 27-item checklist and a four-phase flow diagram.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Osman Nuri Dilek, FACS, Professor, Department of Surgery, İzmir Katip Celebi University School of Medicine, Atatürk Education and Research Hospital, C Block, Flat: 3, Basin Sitesi, İzmir 35150, Turkey. osmannuridilek@gmail.com
Received: February 8, 2021
Peer-review started: February 8, 2021
First decision: March 30, 2021
Revised: April 1, 2021
Accepted: September 2, 2021
Article in press: September 2, 2021
Published online: November 27, 2021
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The omentum is an organ that is easily sacrificed during various abdominal surgeries. It is one of the first organs to be removed in cases scheduled for cytoreductive surgery.

Research motivation

As it plays an effective role in defense against pathogens and injuries, the omentum is classified as an immunological organ. It can also reach almost anywhere in the abdomen.

Research objectives

The omentum is a unique organ due to its extraordinary functional properties in the abdomen, but the reasons for its frequent removal rather than preservation by surgeons have been questioned in the light of literature data.

Research methods

A review of the English language literature based on the MEDLINE (PubMed) database was conducted using the keywords “abdomen”, “gastrointestinal”, “tumor”, “inflammation”, “omental flap”, “metastasis”, “omentum”, and “omentectomy”.

Research results

Our literature search found 1305 articles with the keyword “omentectomy”. It was found that most of the articles were on gynecological (n = 519), stomach (n = 121), colorectal (n = 104), and appendix (n = 52) pathologies and were mostly related to tumors. A brief review of its use in the treatment or reconstruction of other clinical pathologies was also included in this article.

Research conclusions

The omentum tries to limit and control inflammatory and pathological events that occur in the abdomen. As it limits and controls inflammatory and infectious pathologies, it contributes to the survival of the patient.

Research perspectives

The omentum is not an organ that can be easily sacrificed at random. Experimental and prospective clinical studies on the control of tumor spread, control of infection, adhesion formation and the protective role of the omentum in patients undergoing omentectomy are needed.