Doctors at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital successfully operated on the five-day-old pair of parasitic twins on Monday, removing a pair of arms, legs and other organs. After the operation, the baby was put on the ventilator at the intensive medical care unit of the hospital. The fifth child of a Manapparai couple — Mamundi and Jaya — the baby was born in a private hospital and admitted to the Tiruchi GH on December 26 for surgery.
Prior to conducting the operation, doctors conducted intensive investigation on the baby monitoring the oxygen level, pulse and blood pressure. A team of doctors consisting of paediatric surgeons and a couple of anaesthetists conducted the operation, lasting over three hours, and successfully removed the organs, said Dr. Bhaskar, a paediatric surgeon, who headed the medical team.
General anaesthesia was given to the baby born with extra arms and legs attached to the chest wall with the intestine and spleen projected outside the abdomen. Terming it as a rare case, Dr. Bhaskar said the surgery was complicated. A silo technic procedure was adopted to restrict the intestine and spleen into the abdominal cavity, Dr. Bhaskar said adding that this was the first time that the Tiruchi GH had carried out such a complex surgery on a newborn.
The condition of the baby was stable, he said, adding that the infant was being constantly monitored.
