Medical staffs in Bandung to operate on 4-legged baby

JAKARTA (JP): A team of 40 doctors and paramedics at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, West Java, are preparing to operate on a baby girl who was born with four feet and other deformities.

Antara quoted Dr. Chairul Ismail as saying in Bandung yesterday that the orthopedic and pediatric surgery would occur Wednesday.

The doctors will construct an artificial anus, while a team of orthopedists amputate two feet dangling from her behind.

The news agency reported that the daughter of Undang and Wiwin, residents of Garut, was also missing a kidney and had deformed genitalia.

Chairul said the artificial anus would be constructed at the baby's stomach. It is expected to take doctors six months to complete the anus through a series of operations.

The doctors must wait many more months before they will be able to separate her genitalia from her rectum.

Chairul said he could not predict the outcome of the surgery. "We'll do our best. I hope that God will help us and make this operation a success," he said.

Chief surgeon Prof. Azhali said the hospital would pay for the surgery and post-operative treatment which could cost tens of millions of rupiah.

"Because the baby has only one kidney, the risks of multiple surgery are great," Chairul said. "But this should not be a reason for concern, because tests have shown that the kidney is functioning for the absent kidney as well."

Chairul said Hasan Sadikin Hospital had sufficient medical equipment for the operation. (05)