Bhutanese Conjoined Twins Separated Successfully At Australian Hospital
The surgery was previously postponed after health screenings showed that the girls were not fit and ready to be operated on.
One of the twins being lifted away after the separation.
(Source: AFP)
By Kinley Yangden | Bhutan Times
Bhutanese conjoined twins Nima and Dawa have been separated successfully in a six-hour surgery held in Melbourne, Australia.
SBS News reported that a team of 18 surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists from the Royal Children's Hospital was involved in the operation to separate the 15-month-old girls, who are joined at the torso and share a liver.
The surgery was previously postponed after health screenings showed that the girls were not fit and ready to be operated on. It was reported that their long journey from Bhutan to Australia had taken a toll on their health.
Head of paediatric surgery Dr Joe Crameri, who is leading the team, said the twins "coped very well" during the operation.
Successfully divided twins' liver
Doctors managed to successfully divide the shared liver between the twins and the girls were found not to share a bowel, a possibility that was "unknown" before the operation.
Dr Crameri said there "will be challenges in the next 24 to 48 hours as with any surgery".
"We feel quietly confident that we will see good results," he said.
Their mother Bhumchu Zangmo had brought her daughters to Melbourne in October with the help of Children First Foundation, an Australian-based charity.
According to a statement by Children First Foundation, the "girls are doing very well and breathing on their own".
"Bhumchu has seen her girls and given each a kiss…each sleeping apart for the first time – at least until surgical wounds have healed!", the statement wrote.
Bhumchu Zangmo was also overjoyed at receiving over 350 messages of support and encouragement from children across Australia, reported The Herald Sun.
“I am so happy that so many people have good feelings and prayers for my twins’ surgery,” Bhumchu Zangmo said, speaking through a translator.
“I will take all these letters to Bhutan and when the girls grow up and are able to read, I will ask them to read them all.”
