[Complications in omentopexy and personal experience with 100 omentomyelopexies]

Abdominal and general complications of omentomyelopexies are seldom seen, and were mostly presented as the case reports. The aim of this study was to present in a comprehensive analysis of the data acquired from literature the reported omentopexy complications, and to compare them with our own results of the application of the omental flap with left gastroepiploic blood vessels. Prospective clinical research included the first 100 operated patients with injuries on different spinal cord levels. In all patients the omental flap was prepared by our original surgical technique and led to the site of the spinal cord lesion. In 6 of our patients we noticed seven complications and those were: three iatrogenic pneumothoraxes, two lesions of the spleen (without splenectomy), one pneumonia and one mild infection of the laparotomy wound. Prevalence of the complications related to the abdominal act of omentomyelopexy of 7% was significantly lower than in those presented in the literature with other right gastroepiploic artery omentopexies (20-79%). In our patients complications occurred earlier, lasted shorter and had no permanent implications for the patients' health. By using the omental flap with left gastroepiploic blood vessels it was possible to perform effective, relatively simple and safe omentomyelopexy for the injuries on all levels of the spinal cord. Such a mode of omental flap preparation with left gastroepiploic blood vessels could be applied for other omentopexies as well.