Nigerian doctors successfully separate conjoined twins in Abuja

Nigerian doctors successfully separate conjoined twins in Abuja

- A set of conjoined twins has been successfully operated on and separated at the National Hospital in Abuja

- The surgery was carried out in November 2019 by a 78-member team of Nigerian medical doctors and other health specialists

- The twin sisters, Mercy and Goodness Ede, were joined in the chest and abdomen

It was a memorable joyful moment when a 78-member team of Nigerian medical doctors successfully operated on and separated conjoined twin sisters in a widely applauded surgery which lasted about 13 hours.

CNN reports that the surgery which separated the two sisters, named Mercy and Goodness Ede, who were joined in the chest and abdomen was carried out in November 2019.

The twins were born on Tuesday, August 13, 2018.

Nigerian doctors successfully separate conjoined twins in Abuja (photos)
A photo of the conjoined twins before the surgery. Photo credit: CNN
Source: UGC

Legit.ng gathered that the head of the team that performed the surgery, Dr Emmanuel Ameh, said the twins were doing well and ready to be discharged from the hospital six weeks after the surgical operation at the National Hospital in Abuja.

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The hospital's spokesperson, Dr Tayo Haastrup, said the surgery was the first of its kind at the public specialist centre.

"We are just happy and proud that the team that worked on this surgery were all Nigerians. It was done in Nigeria and the parents didn't have to go outside the country," Haastrup said.

Nigerian doctors successfully separate conjoined twins in Abuja (photos)
The girls after the operation in December 2019. Photo credit: CNN
Source: UGC

Speaking about the surgery, the lead doctor, Ameh, said plastic surgeons on the team were worried that a large section of the girls' chest would be open and may be infected once they were separated.

To avoid such complication, the team created artificial skin large enough to cover the area.

Ameh added that the team also found out that the twins were sharing a diaphragm and one liver was serving both of them, but all other organs were separate.

He explained that such findings led to some delay as they had to make sure everything was in order and confirm if the twins could live separately before going ahead with the surgery.

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The twin girls were born via caesarean-section to Mariah and Michael Martins at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Keffi, Nassarawa state.

They were referred to the National Hospital after finding out they were conjoined.

Nigerian doctors successfully separate conjoined twins in Abuja (photos)
Some members of the team that performed the surgery. Photo credit: CNN
Source: UGC

The twins' father, Martins, expressed gratitude to the management of the hospital for performing the surgery successfully without collecting a dime from him.

Martins is a painter while his wife, Mariah, is unemployed.

Meanwhile, the minister of women affairs, Pauline Tallen, promised that the unemployed mother of the twins will be given ‘automatic employment’.

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In a related development, Legit.ng reported that the federal government promised to shoulder the medical expenses for surgical operation of another conjoined set of twins who were given birth to in December 2019 in Bayelsa state.

After they were born in Nembe City General Hospital in the state, the twins were airlifted on Friday, January 3, alongside with their parents by an Air force plane to Yobe for the surgery.

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Also, a philanthropist, Gabriel Jonah, had taken the financial responsibility to help the babies and has started making donations to that effect.

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Source: Legit.ng

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