Conjoined twins separated after hours of surgery

Dr Gail Besner, Chief of Pediatric Surgeon,
Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus,
Ohio, confirmed a successful separation
of conjoined 11-month-old twin girls in
the hospital.

He said on Wednesday that the twins,
Acen and Apio Akello of Uganda, who had
been joined at the pelvic and hip region,
were successfully separated after a 16-
hour surgery.
Besner said the three-dimensional
modeling was used to help the
neurosurgeons divide their intertwined
spinal cords.

“My hope is that they will be able to sit up
on their own, walk and play like any other
child.
The pediatric surgeon said the girls and
their mother, Ester Akello, arrived at the
hospital in December.
He said the sisters had surgery earlier in
2015 to prepare their skin for the
separation and would need additional
surgery.

The surgeon noted that conjoined twins
occur in about one in 200,000
pregnancies.
Besner said the sisters were the fourth
set of conjoined twins the hospital had
separated successfully since 1978.


Source:
Vanguard