Doctors create anus for conjoined twins
Doctors create anus for conjoined twins
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
A team of doctors on Tuesday successfully created an anus for
three-day old conjoined twins born with one buttock in the West
Java capital of Bandung.
The twins, joined at the stomach, feet and groin, would have
to wait at least six months for separation surgery, said Dr.
Choirul Ismail, who led the surgery at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in
Bandung.
"We created an anus in order for the babies to be able to
survive, while exploring the possibility of conducting a
separation operation."
Tuesday's operation took two hours, he said. "It was a
successful surgery."
The twins were born on Saturday with separate heads and
chests, but fused at the stomach and without an anus, which
forced doctors to stop feeding the babies on Monday.
They have no sex organs, but a scrotum was discovered. The
babies have one navel, and each of them has complete sense
organs, two hands and two feet.
Choirul said the twins were not yet in a stable condition,
with infusions being given to them to stabilize their liquid
volumes.
The twins also have anemia, he added.
The doctors also discovered another abnormality, in that one
of the baby's hearts is on the right side of the body.
However, Choirul said the three-day old twins' weight rose by
half a kilogram to 4.75 kilograms.
It would take between six months and a year for the twins to
be strong enough to be separated, he said.
"We continued examining the babies but have found no proper
solution as yet. If we need to separate them, we have to
calculate the risks."
The twins were born at Astanaanyar Hospital to Rodiah, 35, and
Asep, a 37-year old construction worker from Bandung. The poor
couple already have seven children.
Last week, a pair of Iranian adult conjoined twins, Ladan and
Laleh Bijani, died of blood loss during unsuccessful surgery in
Singapore. It was the first attempt to separate adult twins
joined at the head.
Conjoined twins occur once in every 150,000 to 200,000 live
births.
About 40 percent to 60 percent of conjoined twins are
stillborn and 35 percent survive 24 hours or less. Those who
survive longer are often plagued by medical complications due to
shared organs and vital systems.