Parasitic twin operated on in Trichy hospital
Dec 31, 2013, 01.18AM IST TNN?
TRICHY: The doctors at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) here performed a complicated surgery on a parasitic twin for the first time in the history of the hospital. The male baby, which was born with extra organs, has now been put on ventilator as its condition was unstable.
"A team of five doctors including paediatric surgeons and anaesthetists performed the surgery on the five-day-old male parasitic twin born with parasitic phagus from 10am to 1.30pm on Monday. We successfully removed the additional legs, arms, penis and urinal bladder conjoined with the normal baby. The anaesthetists also played a major role in the operation," said paediatric surgeon Dr Baskaran, head of paediatric surgery department at the MGMGH, on Monday.
The case is considered to be rarest of the rare because the baby's intestines and spleen are still outside the body. The doctors have left the two organs outside after surgery because they cannot be pushed into the abdominal cavity. "The intestines and spleen cannot be inserted into the abdominal cavity as it will lead to major complications. So, we have adopted SILO technique by which the two organs will be covered by a bag to nudge the intestine into the abdominal cavity. As it will take three to four days, the baby is put on ventilator," said Dr Baskaran who had already said that the success rate is very low.
The baby is the fifth one born to Vijaya and Mamundy, both labourers, from Poigaipatti near Manapparai. The baby, which was born in a private hospital at Manapparai, was referred to the MGMGH on December 25. Since then the MGMGH doctors conducted numerous tests before deciding on operating the baby.
The MGMGH doctors have not estimated the surgery cost. "Normally, private hospitals don't take up this task. But it will cost about Rs 5 lakh for this operation," said Dr Baskaran.
Neurologist Dr MA Aleem, vice-principal of KAPV Government Medical College, said Vijaya did not take abdominal ultrasound test while carrying the baby. "It is a must for all pregnant women to undergo this test. The congenital deficiency could have been diagnosed and the fetus aborted to avoid such complicated births," said Dr Aleem.