Rare case of twins conjoined at pelvis separated

Doctors of the HMC City-based Children’s Hospital 2 have performed a surgery to separate two baby girls who were born sharing the terminus of their spines.

Doctors of the HMC City-based Children’s Hospital 2 on Tuesday announced that they've successfully performed a surgery to separate two baby girls who were born sharing the terminus of their spines.

Bao An and Bao Han in the southern province of Binh Phuoc’s were born in July 2016 at the Children’s Hospital 2 when their mother was in the 33rd week of the pregnancy with a total weight of just 3.4 kilos.

  

The twins were born sharing the terminus of their spines.

Their mother said that due to her family’s financial difficulties, she did not often come to hospitals for medical check-up and ultra-sound so they were unaware of their children's situation until they were born.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Truc from the hospital said that after the one-year stay at the hospital, doctors decided to conduct the surgery for the two babies on August 23.

This is a very rare case and was also the first kind of operation conducted at the hospital, so, it was very difficult for doctors to define which nerves belong to each of them, Truc said.

The girls are now in stable condition and can drink milk. Doctors, however, said it will take years to tell if their neurological functions are working properly.

The twin girls are in stable condition after being separated. Photo by VNA

Two bodies joined at the pelvis, known medically as pygopagus, is one of the rare types of conjoined twins.