Successful separation

11 January 2011 01:00 pm

The first successful operation to separate conjoined twins had been conducted at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital premises last night. The twins who were adjoined at the abdomen were transferred to the surgical ICU where they are now recovering.

The operation which lasted for six and a half continuous hours was conducted by an eleven member team led by Dr. D. A. D Jayawardane. Director of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, Dr. Mahanama Rajamanthri said that that the twins who were born on March, 17 last year by cesarean section were transferred to the hospital for the operation.

“The twins luckily shared only one organ, the liver and therefore there were more chances of survival,” he said. Dr. Rajamanthri also said that the infants were in the care of the parents until they were physically fit for the surgery. 

Dr. Rajamanthri said that though such surgeries had been conducted in the hospital previously this was the first successful surgery. “We conducted such a surgery in 2006, just 10 days after the infants were born but they didn’t make it,” he said. The twins, both boys are from Matara and are doing well he added.  Pics by Romesh Danushka Silva