Vet successfully operates fingertip-sized frog with exposed lung

• Meaghan Barrow, an Australian veterinarian, had performed a surgery on a tiny frog with a size of a fingertip.
• The frog had a big hole inside of his chest, where some of his internal organs were poking out.
• The operation was successful, and the frog was back to its normal happy state the next day!

An Australian veterinarian has exceptionally performed a surgical procedure on a tree frog which is as small as a fingertip.

“[A colleague] brought him into the clinic to me and she was really worried, she said ‘he seems to have a lump on the side of his body,’” veterinarian Meaghan Barrow told ABC News Australia.

“I had a close look and he actually had a little hole, it was only a couple of millimeters but on a tiny frog that’s only two centimeters long, that’s quite a big hole inside of his chest.”

Meaghan could see some of the frog’s internal organs peeking out of the hole. This meant the frog needed a stitching up. And so her work began.

The vet started with administering anesthesia diluted to one one-thousandth of a dose given the frog’s miniscule size. The operation became a little bit more different compared to the usual animal surgeries as Meaghan needed surgical tools, such as the needle and the suture material, to be very small.

What made the operation even more complicated was the needed stitching pressure. Meaghan couldn’t apply the same amount of pressure she usually did with large animals given the little frog’s skin. Amphibians like frogs normally draw oxygen through their skin, which is delicate, so the doctor really had to be extra thorough and careful.

Despite all the conditions she had to observe to operate on the tiny frog, Meaghan did it successfully.

The next day, the frog was already hopping around happily, and its bright green color was back.

“You learn to treat so many different animals that you have to be adaptable and try the skills that you’d apply to a dog or a cat, to any species,” Meaghan commented, noting that she had done surgery on tiny frogs before, and that she was happy to help the little guy.

Source: Good News Network