Conjoined 2-year-olds separated at AIIMS after 24-hour surgery

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  25.05.2020

A pair of conjoined twins from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, who were joined at the hip and lower back, have been separated following a 24-hour surgery at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, officials said.

The two-year-old girls had fused pelvis, spinal bones, spinal cord, intestines and shared a common rectum, besides having abnormalities of the heart and major blood vessels, a senior doctor explained.

The surgery, which began at 8.30am on Friday, continued past 9am on Saturday. A team of 64 healthcare workers, including surgeons, anaesthetists and plastic surgeons, were involved in the surgery.

The process of anaesthesia and the surgery was very challenging as both the children had a hole in their hearts, the doctor claimed. “Even when under anaesthesia, surgeons had to ensure that the hearts kept working as normal as possible during the surgery and that was a major challenge,” he explained.

As a part of the surgery, remodelling of the spinal cord, separation of the spines, reconstruction of rectum and blood vessels of the thighs were done. The uterus also had to be separated and reconstructed.

AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria took note of the need for the surgery and promptly granted permission for the procedure to be undertaken even during the Covid-19 situation, another doctor said.

The surgery was led by Dr Minu Bajpai, head of the department of paediatric surgery at AIIMS, with assistance from anaesthetists and plastic surgeons. “The twins are under close care and monitoring,” a doctor said.

A senior official at AIIMS, who did not want to be quoted, said they would wait for three to four days to assess the recovery of the twins.

In 2017, AIIMS had successfully separated twins — Jaga and Balia — who were conjoined at the head — an extremely rare case. The twins are currently in their home state of Odisha.

The two-year-old girls had fused pelvis, spinal bones, spinal cord, intestines and shared a common rectum