Ten-month-old Bangladeshi Siamese twins were recovering in hospital after what surgeons hailed as the country's "groundbreaking" first successful separation operation on conjoined siblings
Tofa and Tahura. Pic/AFP
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Ten-month-old Bangladeshi Siamese twins were recovering in hospital yesterday after what surgeons hailed as the country's "groundbreaking" first successful separation operation on conjoined siblings.
Sisters Tofa and Tahura, who were born conjoined at the spine and rectum, underwent a gruelling nine hours in surgery under the care of two dozen doctors. "It is the first time we have successfully separated critically conjoined twins in Bangladesh," said paediatric surgeon Abdul Hanif of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. "It's a groundbreaking operation in our medical history," Hanif said.
Tofa and Tahura will need at least two further operations to restructure their internal organs, Hanif added. The surgery had been "100 per cent successful", but the twins would remain in intensive care for at least a week to ensure no infections developed, said surgery coordinator Shahnoor Islam.