Week after surgery, separated twin is off ventilator

A week after an operation was conducted to separate them, conjoined twins from Odisha, Jagga and Kalia are stable and their health has improved, doctors said on Wednesday. Also, while Jagga has been taken off the ventilator, Kalia will remain attached to the machine for two more weeks. Both toddlers have been kept under observation.

According to a statement released by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS): "Jagga has been taken off the ventilation. He is conscious and recognises and responds to his mother. His cardiac and kidney functions have improved. If he remains stable, he will be shifted to a private ward after 48 hours. Kalia is still in ventilation and his condition is stable. All his parameters are normal but he will be kept in ICU for a longer period."

In one of the rarest surgeries in the country, performed over 18 hours, the craniopagus twins (with fused heads) were separated by a team of 30 specialists. The surgery started at 9 am on October 25 and finished at 3 am the next day. On October 19, Jagga had showed some abnormality in his heart function and his condition had started to deteriorate, following which the surgery was planned.

The 28-month-old kids from the Milipada village in Kandhamal district of Orissa were born in April, 2015, with their heads fused together. Both were immediately shifted to a medical college, where they lived for the first five months.

They were then sent back to their village, where they lived with their grandparents, uncle, aunt, and parents.

UNITED EFFORTS

• In one of the rarest surgeries in the country, performed over 18 hours, the craniopagus twins (with fused heads) were separated by a team of 30 specialists. The surgery started at 9 am on October 25 and finished at 3 am the next day