Surgical Management of a Digestive Tract Hernia in a Wild Marsh Frog (Pelophylax ridibundus)
A wild-caught mature female marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) was presented for a left-sided dorsal swelling. No other abnormalities were detected during the examination. Fine-needle aspiration was non-diagnostic. Baseline hematological and biochemical analyses were within normal reference ranges, and medical imaging did not provide further useful information. Surgical exploration under general anesthesia was performed. The swelling was confirmed to be a digestive tract hernia protruding through a breach of the dorsal muscles and coelomic membrane. Reduction of the hernia was made difficult by the presence of multiple adhesions between the herniated tissue and the coelomic membrane, suggesting a relatively chronic lesion. A traumatic cause was hypothesized. One month later, the animal was considered healed and released back into the wild. Hernias in amphibians are poorly reported in the literature and historically are only found ventrally. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a dorsal hernia in a captive or a wild amphibian.Abstract
Left-sided swelling on the dorsum of a wild-caught mature female marsh frog.
Anatomical medical imaging visualization of the conscious marsh frog placed in a ventilated plastic box. Computed tomography was performed using a Easytom XL Duo microtomographic device. (A) An X-ray of the frog in lateral view. (B) Transverse tomogram plane for 1–4 and sagittal plane for 5. The volume rendering shows the locations of the tomograms (1–5). The soft tissue mass is visible, but there were no connections with other soft or boney tissues.
Intraoperative (dorsal) view of the anesthetized wild-caught mature female marsh frog. A self-retaining retractor is used to maintain the surgical site after the skin incision. A digestive tract hernia can be seen through the muscles and coelomic membrane.
