78 Health Officers Separate Conjoined Twins In A 12-Hour Operation

A set of conjoined twins with one liver, a protruding tummy, and a lower chest were successfully separated. It took a 12-hour operation with 78 medical officers, at the National Hospital in Abuja.

Dr, Osagie Ehanire, the Minister of Health, speaking during a briefing to announce the successful operation said the feat was a sign that Nigerian hospitals were ready to compete with their counterparts around the world.

So, the twins were delivered at the Federal Medical Hospital, Keffi before they were referred to the National Hospital in Abuja.

Speaking further, the minister said that “this is a demonstration of excellent teamwork, which shows that with confidence in the health sector, we can do great things in Nigeria”.

"One of
the reasons why some Nigerians travel abroad for treatment is because they lack
confidence in the health sector. They believe that we do not have specialists
and the required medical equipment to handle sensitive cases, but this case has
shown that we have the expertise. No foreign aid was involved in the surgery.

“The ability
of these experts to work together means that we can stand up to many
international hospitals, as far as advanced surgery is concerned. This is a
complex one involving conjoined twins with one liver.”

Prof Emmanuel Ameh, the leader of the team that carried out the surgery said the twins had to be monitored for 15-months before the separation was performed.

He said;

"We
received the twins on August 14, 2018, and quickly constituted an
inter-disciplinary team, including pediatric surgeons, cardiac surgeons,
plastic surgeons, nurses, imaging experts, dermatologists and other experts
from various medical disciplines, as well as support staff.

“One of the major challenges was that the twins came with their intestines bulging out of the lower part of the tummy, which we quickly resolved.

However, it was not the first similar operation was carried out in Nigeria. Recall that on 14^th May 2018, a team of surgeons successfully separated 4-month-old conjoined twins at the Federal Medical Centre, Yola

Besides, the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital had on 11^th June 2018 announced that it has separated conjoined twins referred to the centre from St. Mary Catholic Hospital, Abuja