Conjoined twins from Odisha successfully separated

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 Thursday.

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 and 10 anaesthetists performed the 18 hours surgery which they had prepared for over the course of several weeks using 3D print model multiple times. 

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

Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik also expressed his delight on social media and congratulated Dr. AK Mahapatra and his team who carried out the extensive surgey. 

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

Dr. AK 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.