1-Day-Old Conjoined Twins Sharing Breastbone And Abdominal Wall Successfully Separated

A team of doctors in China successfully separated 1-day-old conjoined twins in a two-hour surgery Friday.

The conjoined sisters were born at 34 weeks of gestation at Xinjiang Children's Hospital in the western province of Xinjiang on Nov. 12.

The following day, the doctors decided to perform an operation to separate the twins. Before the procedure, the babies underwent a series of tests. Results indicated that the sisters shared a breastbone, umbilical cord, and abdominal wall.

In a statement, Li Shuixue, the deputy director of the hospital, said, "We may have to perform sternum and abdominal wall separation on this pair of conjoined children. It is very difficult to perform such an operation on the newborn." (Google translation showed)

During the surgery, which was conducted by a total of 13 doctors, anesthesia was administered to one of the sisters first. After confirmation that her condition was stable, the drug was also given to the other twin.

"Two children need to be anesthetized at the same time, and two anesthesia machines... we have never encountered this," he said.

The doctors separated their abdominal wall and umbilical cord. They found that the sisters had separate livers and that the other organs in their abdomens were also working fine.

"Examining the abdominal cavity of the children revealed that the liver was not connected and everything in the abdominal cavity was normal, which meant that the difficulty of this operation was reduced a lot," Li Shuixue said.

The surgery was successful and the twins were sent to the neonatal intensive care units where they would receive round-the-clock care.

The hospital confirmed that all their organs were functioning normally and they were in "good condition" after the surgery. The doctors also said that this was the first successful case of its kind in the Xinjiang province.

The parents of the twins have another child who is three years old.

According to the Mayo Clinic, two babies who are born physically attached are called conjoined twins. This happens when an embryo fails to fully separate to form two individuals. In most cases, the twins are connected at the chest, pelvis, or abdomen. They may share one or more organs internal organs as well.