Professor Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany Giessen, Germany
Indications for partial or complete ovariohystrectomy in horses are chronic endometritis unresponsive to conservative treatment, pyometra, uterine neoplasia, uterine lacerations or rupture as well as congenital malformations. The laparoscopic-assisted surgery used for ovariohystrectomy, is a combination of a laparoscopic intervention in the standing horse followed by a median celiotomy under general anesthesia for removal of the ovaries and uterus. Ovariohysterectomy in the horse is an uncommonly performed and technique ally demanding surgery associated with a high degree of invasiveness and morbidity. Indications for partial or total ovariohysterectomy are the chronic endometritis, unresponsive to conservative treatment, the pyometra, and uterine neoplasia, such as the leiomyoma or leiomyosarcoma. Further indications are lacerations or rupture of the uterus as well as congenital malformations with fluid accumulation. Surgical procedures for ovariohysterectomy described in literature are the conventional laparotomy, the hand-assisted laparoscopy (until now only published as an experimental study) and the laparoscopic-assisted surgical techniques. Whereas conventional surgeries for complete ovariohysterectomy have been proven to be time consuming and afflicted with numerous serious complications, the use of endoscopic-assisted surgical techniques are favored nowadays because of the inherent risks related to conventional surgical methods.