Introduction: Amongst the gynaecological malignancies, epithelial ovarian carcinoma is the most lethal. Early stage neoplasms in the fimbriated end of the fallopian tube could be the cause of development of ovarian carcinoma. We aim to correlate opportunistic tubal ligation / salpingectomy as an effective preventive strategy in the occurrence of epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Material & Methods: This is a prospective case-control study. Cases were patients who underwent total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy with a histologically verified epithelial ovarian cancer and controls were patients who underwent the same surgical procedure for benign gynaecological conditions specifically myoma uteri and adenomyosis with normal ovaries a final histology report. Using appropriate statistical methods the correlation between the occurrence of epithelial ovarian carcinoma and previous tubal ligation / salpingectomy was determined. Results: A total of 158 cases were included in the study amongst which 28 cases were post-surgical patients with histologically verified epithelial ovarian cancer and 130 post-surgical patients for benign gynaecologic conditions with normal ovaries a final histology report were controls. The study showed that without previous tubal ligation / salpingectomy procedure the odds of developing epithelial ovarian carcinoma increased by 1.54 times in the subjects after adjusted for age, parity and obesity. Conclusion: Tubal ligation / salpingectomy reduces the risk of developing epithelial ovarian carcinoma. At the time of surgery and planning a hysterectomy for benign indications patients should be counselled regarding risk-reducing salpingectomy to conserve ovarian function and prevent ovarian epithelial carcinoma.

Keywords: Epithelial ovarian carcinoma, Tubal ligation, Salpingectomy.