Omental flap for treatment of long standing lymphoedema of the lower limb: can it end the suffering? Report of four cases with review of literatures.

We report our experience of four cases of long-standing unilateral, secondary lymphoedema of the lower limb, for which conservative treatment has failed, that were treated in our centre using pedicled omental flap. The four patients were followed for a period of 1 year after the procedures and frequent measurements of the circumference of the affected limb revealed a reduction in the circumference ranging between 50% in the first patient to 75% in the fourth patient together with an excellent functional improvement in terms of resuming walking, daily activities, sports and work. We think that pedicled omental flap is an important, relatively easy and safe option that deserves consideration in refractory cases of lymphoedema of the lower limb.