Siamese Twins Conjoined at the Hips to be Separated

Conjoined twins, also known as Siamese twins, Seeta and Geeta have separate heads, hands and legs, but are joined at the hip, having just one anus making surgery risky. Their parents are from Motihari district of Bihar, and have a tough time eking out a living.

Though doctors in Patna could not operate on the twins given the grave risk involved, they did refer them to the Batra Hospital for help, while Dr Ajay Kumar, a neurosurgeon at a Patna hospital decided to bear the cost of the surgery, which would be approximately Rs.5-6 Lakhs, though it is believed that Batra Hospital will bear half the expense.

But the chances of a successful operation are slight, since it is a complicated procedure as only one anal tract can be provided post-operation which would leave one of them at grave risk, so the medical team will have to create a urinary and intestinal diversion and reconstruct the pelvis and hip.

The head of pediatrics department at Batra Hospital, Dr S. Bagai, said, "The lower parts of their spines are very close but the proximity is towards the terminal parts.”

The conjoined twins have undergone preliminary medical tests at Batra Hospital. The tests are considered crucial in determining their chances of survival after the surgery, which generally are around 25% depending on the organs conjoined. Separating the two will require a multidisciplinary team of specialists like pediatric surgeons, orthopedics, plastic surgeons and other specialists.

Source-Medindia
TRI