A Descriptive Cadaveric Study of the Morphology of Greater Omentum with Special Emphasis on Vascularity

Introduction: The greater omentum is a fold of peritoneal tissue attached to the greater curvature of the stomach and supplied by the right and left gastroepiploic arteries that has wide applications in reconstructive surgeries. Therefore, a better grasp of the morphometric parameters and arterial patterns of the omentum will aid in furthering surgical application of omental grafts. This study focuses on further understanding, observing, and describing the detailed anatomy of the omentum to apply the obtained information and correlating it to its clinical applications. Methodology: Cadaveric dissection of 50 specimens was carried out to study the morphology of the omentum followed by morphometric analysis of the vertical lengths, transverse lengths, and omental thickness along with tracing the arterial patterns using trans-illumination technique. Results: The mean transverse length was 34.78 ± 11.13 cm with a median of 36.0 cm; the mean vertical length was 19.71 ± 5.70 cm with a median of 18.0 cm. Mean omental thickness was found to be 6.85 ± 2.37 mm with a median of 6.25 mm. The number of omental branches were between 4 and 10. Of the 50 specimens, 54% showed weak anastomosis, 28% showed no anastomosis and the remaining 18% showed strong anastomosis. Conclusion: This study provides morphometric data and arterial patterns of the omenta, highlights the frequency of gastroepiploic anastomosis and the presence of the arteria omentalis magna, and documents two anomalous specimens supplied predominantly by the left gastroepiploic artery.