Conjoined Nigerian sisters separated at Bangalore hospital
POSTED June 8, 2010 - 11:46 | POSTED BY neha gupta
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on June 8, 2010 - 12:20
The eight-month-old Nigerian twins, Peace and Patience, who were joined along the torso are now stable and under observation in the ICU.
The twins along with their parents Emmanuel and Comfort Adgube had traveled all the way from Nigeria get their bodies separated.
The complex surgery
Beginning at around 6.30 a.m., the surgery concluded by 5.30 p.m. and involved a team of 24 personnel, including 14 doctors.
The anaesthetist’s team had prepared the twins for the surgery by 7:00 a.m. after which they started off with the complex surgery which involved separating their bowels and allocating each part of the bowel to one child.
“On exploration it was found that the children had a fused liver and a shared ‘biliary’ tree. They also shared a common mid-gut from the duodenum to the end of the small bowel,” said Dr Ashley D’Cruz, Director, Narayana Hrudayalaya Women and Child Institute.
The surgeons found that the babies had a single bladder and bile duct due to which the biliary structures had a common passage.
“So the biliary duct from Patience was disconnected and biliary enteric drainage performed. The intestine was divided between the two children. Each baby now has adequate small bowel and normal colons. The liver was finally split into two parts,” added the doctor.
After the tissues were divided, the babies got separated from each other.
Finally the biliary reconstruction work was completed in Patience’s abdomen followed by Peace’s operation.
Parents glad to find daughters safe
The kids are now stable and showing progress, though it would take another 3 to 4 weeks for them to fully recuperate, the ICU doctors reported.
Their parents are all too glad to find their daughters separated, being able to lead a normal life now.
“We are extremely happy to see our daughters separated. It is a dream come true for us and we thank the team here for their expertise and the people here and in Nigeria for their prayers for our daughters,” said Emmanuel Adugbe.
The girls, born on Sept. 9, 2009, will now get to celebrate their first birthday as two individuals. The surgery was done free of cost.
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