Acute idiopathic omental infarction as an unusual cause of left iliac fossa pain: a case report

Abstract

Acute idiopathic omental infarction is an uncommon cause of abdominal pain. Only about 300 cases have been reported in the medical literature so far.15% of cases occur in the pediatric age group. Omental infarctions are common on the right side and present as right iliac fossa pain. Clinical presentation usually mimics acute appendicitis and leads to unnecessary surgical intervention in majority of the cases. Acute idiopathic omental infarction presenting as left iliac fossa pain has not been reported till now in medical literature. Controversy exist regarding the management of acute omental infarction. While a few authors recommend surgical resection of the infarcted omentum, most authors recommend conservative management. Here we report a case 36 years old lady with acute idiopathic omental infarction presenting as the left sided abdominal pain. Diagnosis was made on contrast enhanced CT imaging. She was managed conservatively with NSAIDs and antibiotics. She was discharged after 2 days of in hospital. She improved clinically on outpatient follow up at 1 week, 1 month and 6 months. In short, acute idiopathic omental infarction is an unusual cause of left iliac fossa pain. Patients may benefit from conservative management, once the diagnosis is confirmed based on imaging. Further studies are necessary to devise a correct guideline on surgical intervention and conservative management in omental infarction.