Conjoined twins from Odisha critical after marathon surgery: Doctor

In a rarest of rare case, a pair of conjoined twins from Odisha was successfully separated by doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) after a marathon surgery on 26 October.

However, the condition of the kids are 'critical' and will need monitoring, said a senior doctor.

Dr Randeep Guleria, director AIIMS told ANI, "Surgery has been successful but they are still very critical and in ICU. They will need monitoring over the next 2-3 weeks."

The 28-month-old twins, Jaga and Baliya, who were joined from their heads, were separated after an 18-hour long surgery, which started at 9:00 AM Wednesday and ended at 3:00 AM Thursday.

A team of 20 surgeons performed this marathon 16 hours surgery.

"This is one of the rarest operations that has been done, a complex surgery done in stages", added Dr Guleria.

The twins hail from Milipada village in Kandhamal district, Odisha.

A K Mahapatra, the chief of the neurosciences centre, earlier during a press conference on Thursday, said this type of surgery is highly challenging as mortality in such cases are very high.

-ANI