Meet Conjoined Twins Successfully Separated After Complex Operation

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Eleven-month-old twins Acen and Apio Akello who were conjoined at the hip and spine have successfully been separated by a team of 30 specialists at Nationwide Children’s hospital in Ohio.

According to Huffingtonpost, the sisters who hail from Uganda were were flown to Nationwide Children’s in December 2014 to prepare for the operation, which involved having doctors make 3D models of their spines and muscles, delicately labeling each piece of tissue to enable them know each owner. The operation was a complex procedure, lasting for 16 hours with each twin having two neurosurgeons dedicated to her.

Jeffrey R. Leonard, MD, chief of neurosurgery at Nationwide Children’s, said: “Imaging helped guide our understanding of the twins’ anatomy. In the operating room we were able to visualize and discern which nerves belonged to which twin. Our primary concern was preservation of the twins’ neurologic function so they may have adequate leg movement and bowel and bladder function once separated.”

It is not yet known how long the girls will remain in hospital as they still have one more operation to undergo, which involves removing their colostomies which they have had since shortly after they were born, but doctors say they are healthy with their lives set to improve.

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Dr. Gail Besner, chief of Pediatric Surgery at the hospital said: “We have the potential at Nationwide Children’s to take two patients who would never have been able to have a normal life as they were before and make them into two separate individuals who, I expect, will have healthy and normal lives. The girls will continue to receive treatment at this time, and I can’t wait to watch them grow. My hope is that they will be able to sit up on their own, walk and play like any other child.”

This is the fourth successful conjoined twins surgery the hospital will perform which left the twins mother Ester elated with the outcome.