Greater omentum

Omentum majus

DigestiveOrgansAbdomen

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What it is

Apron-like, four-layered fold of peritoneum hanging from the greater curvature of the stomach in front of the intestines and folding back up to the transverse colon; it is usually laden with fat.

Function

Stores fat and, through immune "milky spots", sticks to and walls off areas of infection or inflammation - the "policeman of the abdomen".

Size

Hangs about 20-25 cm down in front of the small intestine; from paper-thin to several centimetres of fat thick.

Clinical note

Surgeons use it as a vascularised flap to patch perforations, and ovarian cancer often spreads into it ("omental cake").