Review spotlights extra-abdominal omentum use in dogs and cats
Bottom line
A new review in Animals pulls together the veterinary literature on using the greater omentum outside the abdomen in dogs and cats, an area that has remained clinically interesting but loosely standardized. The paper, by Dorian Zielonka, Magdalena Morawska, and Y. Zhalniarovich, focuses on extra-abdominal omentalization techniques, reported indications, and the biologic rationale for using this highly vascular, lymphatic, and immunologically active tissue in small-animal surgery. Broader background literature cited around the review suggests the omentum can be mobilized extensively in dogs and cats and has been described for thoracic applications, chronic wounds, reconstructive surgery, and selected head-and-neck uses, but most veterinary evidence still comes from case reports, case series, cadaver work, and older experimental studies rather than standardized prospective trials. (ivis.org)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is less about a brand-new procedure than about consolidating a niche but potentially useful surgical option. The greater omentum’s vascular, lymphatic, and immune properties have long made it attractive for contaminated fields, poorly healing wounds, dead-space management, and reconstruction, and classic surgical references note it can be transposed to the thorax or tunneled subcutaneously to extra-abdominal sites. But the evidence base remains thin, and recent literature still points to technical constraints, species differences, and a lack of higher-level outcome data, especially for cats and for newer indications. (ivis.org)
What to watch: The next step is whether this review prompts more prospective clinical studies that define when extra-abdominal omentalization truly improves outcomes, and in which canine and feline cases it’s worth the added operative complexity. (bazawiedzy.uwm.edu.pl)
Key facts
- Article type
- Review
- Journal
- Animals
- Topic
- Extra-abdominal applications of the greater omentum in canine and feline surgery
- Species
- Dogs and cats
- Main focus
- Technique, indications, and clinical rationale
- Biologic rationale
- Highly vascular, lymphatic, and immunologically active tissue
- Evidence base
- Mostly case reports, case series, cadaver work, and older experimental studies
- Current limitation
- Still far from standardized across small-animal practice
A new review in Animals is putting fresh attention on an old surgical structure: the greater omentum. In “Extra-Abdominal Applications of the Greater Omentum in Canine and Feline Surgery: Current Knowledge, Surgical Techniques, and Clinical Perspectives,” the authors synthesize the veterinary literature on using the omentum outside the abdomen in dogs and cats, with an emphasis on technique, indications, and clinical rationale. The topic is timely because extra-abdominal omentalization is familiar to some surgeons, but still far from standardized across small-animal practice. (bazawiedzy.uwm.edu.pl)
That lack of standardization is part of the story. Longstanding veterinary surgical references describe the omentum as a uniquely useful tissue because it brings blood supply, lymphatic drainage, immune activity, and physical bulk to recipient sites. In dogs, techniques for unfolding or extending the omentum can allow it to reach surprisingly distant locations, including the thorax, body wall, and distal extra-abdominal sites; similar concepts have been described in cats, though feline anatomy can make mobilization more delicate. (ivis.org)
The review appears to build on a broader recent resurgence of interest in the omentum in veterinary surgery. A 2024 review from overlapping authors called the omentum “a forgotten structure” in small-animal surgery and summarized its use across abdominal and reconstructive settings. Meanwhile, newer reports continue to explore practical applications, including a 2025 cadaver study on preparing an omental pedicle flap through a lateral approach laparotomy, and a recent case series on free omentum grafts for large distal limb wounds in dogs. Together, those publications suggest the field is moving from scattered anecdotal use toward more deliberate technical refinement, even if the clinical evidence still trails behind. (bazawiedzy.uwm.edu.pl)
What the current review adds is a more focused look at extra-abdominal use cases. Existing surgical references describe translocation of the omentum into the thorax for chylothorax, tunneling to chronic non-healing wounds, and use alongside mesh for thoracic or abdominal wall reconstruction. They also note that the tissue may help by improving vascularity, drainage, and local immune response, which explains why surgeons have continued revisiting it for contaminated, ischemic, or difficult-to-heal defects. (ivis.org)
Even so, the field’s limitations are hard to ignore. The available literature is still dominated by case reports, small case series, cadaver studies, and experimental work, with little in the way of controlled clinical trials. A 2023 evidence review on omentalization in canine radial fracture management, for example, highlighted how sparse and selective the higher-quality literature remains even for a specific orthopedic question. That doesn’t negate the technique’s value, but it does mean most decisions around extra-abdominal omentalization are still being made with limited comparative data. (veterinaryevidence.org)
Expert commentary in the literature has been broadly pragmatic rather than promotional. Surgical references emphasize that the omentum may be useful where added vasculature, lymphatics, or tissue bulk are needed, but they also caution about preserving vascular integrity during tunneling and avoiding constriction of the pedicle. Newer anatomical work likewise points to technical challenges, including adhesions, body-size variation, and the relative fragility of feline omental tissue. (ivis.org)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this review is a useful signal that extra-abdominal omentalization is maturing from a collection of clever salvage techniques into a more discussable part of reconstructive and complex soft-tissue surgery. In referral settings, it may support decision-making for chronic wounds, thoracic disease, dead-space management, and selected head-and-neck or body-wall reconstructions. In general practice, the more immediate value may be awareness: knowing when an omental flap or graft could be part of a referral conversation, and where the evidence is still too limited to assume benefit. (ivis.org)
What to watch: The key next development will be better clinical outcome data, especially prospective studies that compare extra-abdominal omentalization with more conventional reconstructive options in dogs and cats, define complication rates, and clarify which indications justify the added abdominal access and operative time. (veterinaryevidence.org)