Twins sleep in separate beds at last

MELBOURNE: Surgeons have spoken of their joy after the successful separation of conjoined Bhutanese twins Nima and Dawa in Melbourne.

A team of medical experts emerged from theatre yesterday afternoon after the sixhour procedure, proudly declaring the 15monthold girls were no longer connected.

The sisters, who were joined at the torso and shared a liver, are in recovery and breathing independently following the operation, which involved up to 25 surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists.

Images shared by the Royal Children’s Hospital show the girls lying on separate beds for the first time in their short lives.

Head of paediatric surgery Dr Joe Crameri, who led the operation, said there had been no surprises despite fears the girls’ bowels were shared.

‘‘We were very fortunate in that there wasn’t any significant bowel attachment and while it was all swimming next to one another, it wasn’t actually connected in any major way,’’ Dr Crameri told reporters. — AAP