The relief was all the more as Jagga and his conjoined twin Kalia had undergone major surgery on October 26
Doctors at AIIMS got a pleasant surprise on Thursday, as Jagga was able to consume semi-solid food, just one day after he was put off the ventilator. The relief was all the more as Jagga and his conjoined twin Kalia had undergone major surgery on October 26 to separate them and doctors had been worried about their chances of survival post surgery.
"On Thursday, we gave a banana to Jagga and he ate it completely. This is a very positive sign. He is recovering fast," said a senior doctor from AIIMS.
The 28-month-old twins Jagga and Kalia, who were joined at the heads, were separated after an 18-hour-long surgery at AIIMS on October 26. The second phase of the marathon surgery was completed after which the twins have been moved to the ICU.
"The surgery to separate them was completed successfully on Wednesday night. Both of the twins are stable and in ICU," said Dr A K Mahapatra, the chief of the neurosciences centre.
The twins, hail from Milipada village under Phiringia block in Kandhamal district in Odisha, are craniopagus conjoined twins, joined at the heads. According to the doctors, this is a very rare condition which afflicts one in 30 lakh children in the world.
The surgery to separate them was India's first separation surgery of craniopagus twins, who also shared brain tissue, nerves and major blood vessels. Only 59 such surgeries have happened across the world.
The conjoined twins were admitted in AIIMS on July 13 and the first phase of the surgery was performed on August 28 this year when the doctors created a venous bypass to separate the veins shared by the babies that returns blood to the heart from the brain.
A team of 30 doctors from various departments, including neurosurgery, neuro-anesthesia and pediatrics, were on the medical team that undertook the second phase of the surgery on twins, when they were around two and a half years old. The second phase of surgery was done before the scheduled time as Jagga's health had deteriorated.
RARE CONDITION
- The twins, hail from Milipada village in Odisha, are craniopagus conjoined twins, joined at the heads.
- According to the doctors, this is a very rare condition which afflicts one in 30 lakh children in the world
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