Surgeons separate conjoined twins in Rawalpindi

In what can best be described as a miraculous and marathon operation, surgeons at Rawalpindi's Holy Family Hospital (HFH) successfully managed to separate six-month-old female conjoined twins Merab and Manahel, who are now recuperating at the facility.

Speaking to the media, HFH Head of Paediatric Surgery Department Dr Mudassar Gondal said besides him, the other experts on the team were Dr Ahmed, Dr. Ayesha, Prof Jawad Zaheer, Prof Nadeem Akhtar, Assistant Professor Dr Yasir Shehzad and Senior Resident Dr Mudassar Abbas Siddique "We successfully dissected and reconstructed the spinal cord," he added.

He said pygopagus twins were born six months ago at the HFH with a common sacrum and a common subarachnoid space, and the canals of their private parts shared a common posterior wall called pygopagus congenital twins in medical terminology.

"Since the spinal cord and anal canal were attached to the torso of the girls, the surgical team separated them after a five and a half-hour long surgery and fixed the anal canal," Dr Mudassar said, adding that twins were re-examined by the doctor's board. He expressed hope that they would progress rapidly.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2021.