Surgeons successfully separate conjoined twins in marathon six-hour operation
DAILY MAIL,9 NOVEMBER 2018Australian surgeons have successfully separated conjoined twins after a tense and lengthy six-hour operation.
Fourteen-month-old twins Nima and Dawa Pelden from Bhutan were admitted to Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital for the delicate procedure on Friday.
Lead paediatric surgeon Joe Crameri told ABC News the procedure was a success and had been shorter than initially expected and the twins were ‘doing well’.
‘We saw two young girls who were very ready for their surgery, who were able to cope very well with the surgery and are currently in our recovery doing very well,’ Dr Crameri said. The paediatrician said his team was well prepared for the surgery and there weren’t any complications or major bleeding during the procedure. Mr Crameri said there was no significant bowel attachments that complicated the procedure and the main challenge was to reconstruct the infants’ abdomens.
The surgeon said the next 24 to 48 hours would be the most critical for the little girls, but the twins will be closely monitored. ‘We feel quietly confident that we will have a good result,’ he said
Dr Crameri said the best part of the surgery was that there weren’t any‘highs or lows’-it was all very calm and quiet with ‘calm conversation’,
He said once the team realised they were able to divide the liver successfully without compromising the girls or doing ‘anything fancy’ to the bowel was a ‘sense of relief’.
The twins were brought to Australia from the Himalayas’ Bhutan for the surgery earlier this month, but the procedure had been delayed as a result of assessments.
Since then, they have been staying at a property at Kilmore, north of Melbourne, which is run by Children First Foundation, which funded their flights and procedure.
After they first arrived at the hospital in October, doctors decided to postpone the surgery to allow more time to bolster their nutrition levels.
When the girls were given the green light on Friday, they were anaesthetised about 8.30am, before a team of four surgeons and about 18 people.
The pair had been joined at the the lower chest above the pelvis and shared a liver.
Preliminary scans and tests had prepared the surgical team, which managed to carry out the entire operation in about six hours.
‘There weren’t any things inside the girls’ tummies that we weren’t really prepared for,’ Mr Crameri said.
‘The main challenge is to get the wound, which we repaired, to heal and be strong. We think we will achieve that but that’s the important thing we will need to monitor.’
The paediatrician confirmed the twins were in recovery and that their breathing tubes had been removed but where they will go next will depend on their progress.
Dr Crameri congratulated his fellow surgeons and nursing staff for their help during the lengthy procedure and said he had notified the girls’ mother Bhumchu Zangmo.