Treatment of chronic osteomyelitis by transplantation of autogenous omentum with microvascular anastomosis. A preliminary report.

Free omental transplantation with vascular anastomosis was attempted in three clinical cases as a new method of treatment for chronic osteomyelitis. The bone cavity produced by debridement was completely eliminated by the transplanted omentum. Furthermore, the omentum, because of its biological characteristics, formed good vascular anastomoses with the adjacent bone tissue. Although sufficient time has not yet elapsed to prove the existence of healthy bone regeneration and therefore, further evaluation for a longer period is necessary, this therapeutic method would seem to have considerable potential in the treatment of chronic osteomyelitis.