Anticancer treatments often lead to ovarian failure and infertility. Cryopreservation and subsequent transplantation of the ovaries is one of the solutions that has been adopted as a means of preserving fertility, but primitive ischaemia in the grafted ovary that damages the oocyte pool is considered to be a possible problem. In order to improve blood supply and follicle preservation, two incisions were made in the ovaries before an intramuscular auto-grafting procedure and these non-intact ovaries were compared with the intact ovaries that were also auto-grafted intramuscularly. Follicle numbers and apoptosis were examined in intact and non-intact groups after 1, 2 and 3 weeks post-grafting. The results were compared with the control ovaries, which were not incised and grafted. Although follicle survival in both grafted groups was lower than in the controls (P <or= 0.05), survival of follicles in the grafted ovaries (n = 19) was improved by incision prior to grafting. In addition, the estimated number of follicles decreased in grafted ovaries compared with non-grafted ovaries. Generally, it seems that this procedure is a promising method to preserve ovarian function; further studies are required to improve the success of maintaining ovaries after transplant.