Evaluation of an Ipsilateral Uterine Horn Resection and Ovariectomy Surgical Model in Gilts for Embryo Collection

Minimizing the risk of disease transmission, disseminating superior genetics, and reducing transportation costs are recognized advantages of embryo biotechnologies. These advantages make the development of a minimally invasive and repeatable procedure in pigs enticing, but simultaneously magnify the anatomical constraints. For decades, the swine industry has struggled to establish a universal procedure to collect pre-implantation embryos from pigs due to their long and convoluted uterine horns (UHs). Thus, the objectives were to evaluate the benefits of employing a transitional surgical model by shortening UH tissue using a 40 cm ipsilateral resection and assess the compensatory ovulatory response following an ovariectomy. The surgery was deemed successful as the UH was resected and the contralateral UH was fully ligated. The dam- and sire-line gilts exhibited ovarian hypertrophy between surgery and slaughter on the remaining ovary, illustrated by an increase in the number of corpora lutea (13.4 and 3.0 vs. 27.2 and 12; p < 0.05, respectively) and intact ovary weight (11.9 and 7.7 vs. 25.9 vs. 38.7 g; p < 0.05, respectively). This research is a vital step in assessing whether this interim surgical approach serves as a valuable method to advance the development of non-surgical techniques to collect pre-implantation embryos in pigs.