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The main objective of this study was to evaluate laparoscopic ovariectomy and to develop an optimal surgical technique for this procedure in standing cattle. Eight cows underwent laparoscopic ovariectomy. In two cows, a bilateral flank approach was used and in six cows, both ovaries were removed via a left flank approach. An important prerequisite for ensuring sufficient intrabdominal space for instrumentation, optimal endoscopic orientation and easy access to the ovaries and uterus was withholding feed for at least 36 h prior to surgery. The cows were sedated with xylazine and the portal sites infiltrated with lidocaine. The portal for the laparoscope was at the ventral angle of the left paralumbar fossa, approximately 10 cm cranioventral to the tuber coxae. The instruments were inserted through two portals approximately 20 cm and 30 cm ventral to the tuber coxae. After abdominal insufflation with carbon dioxide, the left ovary was grasped and local anesthetic was injected into the mesovarium and mesosalpinx. The mesovarium was transected using bipolar cauterization and the ovary removed through an extended instrument portal. The right ovary was removed in the same way. The incisions were closed with single interrupted absorbable sutures in the musculature and single interrupted non-absorbable sutures in the skin. The procedure lasted 120-150 min. Bilateral laparoscopic ovariectomy via left flank approach in standing cows is feasible. This procedure involves special instrumentation, but is minimally invasive and allows optimal visualization of the ovaries and uterus.

On days 14–17 of the oestrous cycle, the ovary with its ovarian pedicle was isolated during laparatomy, placed on a water bath (40°C) under a stereomicroscope, protected from dessication and supplied with autologous arterial blood. 50 μCi of 3 H-testosterone was infused (30 min) by cannula, the tip of which was positioned in the ovarian vein 1–2 cm from the ovary. Radioactivity was found in the blood taken from both the ovarian and the oviduct branches of the ovarian artery. The radioactivity of the ovarian venous effluent and testosterone capture by the ovary and ovarian tissues during and 30 min after testosterone infusion were determined. In subsequent experiments the mesosalpinx of an infused preparation (preparation A) closely covered a second isolated ovary (preparation B) placed nearby in a separate box and supplied with arterial blood. The level of radioactivity in preparation B was estimated in the arterial and venous blood, in samples of lymph and interstitial fluid, in the follicular fluid and in the ovarian and pedicle tissues. During the experiment 0.6% of the 3 H-testosterone infused into preparation A was transferred through the mesosalpinx vasculature into the ovary and ovarian pedicle of preparation B. This indicates the existence of a still unknown way for penetration of steroid hormones from the ovarian pedicle through the mesosalpinx vasculature and the ovarian surface into the tissues of the ovary.

On day 14 of the oestrous cycle in swine, laparotomy under general anaesthesia was performed and both ovaries with their ovarian pedicles and with part of the uterine horns were isolated using ligatures and excised as two independent units which were called A and B. They were placed in separate aluminium paper boxes on a heated surface (40°C). Preparation A was supplied with autologous arterial blood through the uterine artery and through the ovarian artery. The mesosalpinx of this preparation covered the ovary of preparation B from which the mesosalpinx was excised. Preparation B was also supplied with autologous blood through the ovarian artery. Tritiated prostaglandin F-2α ( 3 H-PGF-2α) was injected into the musculature of the uterine horn of preparation A and then both preparations were perfused with blood of the same animal for 30 min. 3 H-PGF-2α was found in the ovarian venous blood, interstitial fluid, and ovarian and pedicle tissue of preparation B. The data indicate an extravascular penetration of 3 H-PGF-2α into the ovary through the mesosalpinx.