Conjoined Twins Separated After 16-Hour Surgery

Dr Gail Besner, Chief of Pediatric Surgeon, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, confirmed a successful separation of conjoined 11-month-old twin girls in the hospital.He said on Wednesday that the twins, Acen and Apio Akello of Uganda, who had been joined at the pelvic and hip region, were successfully separated after a 16-hour surgery.
Besner said the three-dimensional modeling was used to help the neurosurgeons divide their intertwined spinal cords.
“My hope is that they will be able to sit up on their own, walk and play like any other child.
The pediatric surgeon said the girls and their mother, Ester Akello, arrived at the hospital in December.
He said the sisters had surgery earlier in 2015 to prepare their skin for the separation and would need additional surgery.
The surgeon noted that conjoined twins occur in about one in 200,000 pregnancies.
Besner said the sisters were the fourth set of conjoined twins the hospital had separated successfully since 1978.