Abstract
A study of the uterine mucosa of the monkey has been facilitated by methods which permit examination of fresh samples of endometrium at intervals on the same animal with any given experimental history.
One method has been a surgical approach through the abdomen. The uterus is elevated and brought into the space made by the abdominal incision. A small soft rubber catheter is then passed around the lower uterine segment, just above the swelling of the cervix, and is tightened and clamped to form a tourniquet, effectively stopping the blood from the uterine arteries. This method is similar to that used by Dr. Squier in Hartman's laboratory, Carnegie Institute of Embryology, for operation on the pregnant monkey uterus.
After the circulation is stopped a small triangular wedge is taken from the fundus, the 2 incisions passing through the muscularis to the lumen of the uterus. The muscularis is closed by several stitches, the peritoneum drawn over and secured and the tourniquet released. The loss of blood is surprisingly slight and seepage may be stopped by sponging, or application of the piece of crushed muscle. The position of the removed section is indicated on a diagram and the operation may be repeated within a week, the wedge being taken from another portion of the fundus. This operation has been done several times on the same animal, and there has been no indication that the later sample had been adversely affected by the previous operations. Three portions have been taken from a uterus, but the method has obvious limitations.
Attention was then turned toward the possibility of obtaining scrapings adequate for study by a curettage. The first difficulty encountered was in the tortuous cervical canal in the monkey, which differs markedly from that in the human.
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