HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - The 13-month-old conjoined twins who had surgery toseparate them on July 15 at the City Children’s Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City nolonger have fever and they are showing signs of good recovery.

Doctorsare closely monitoring their respiration, digestion and other functions. Theyare getting the best care to ensure they are in optimal health for moresurgeries.

Theyplan to perform a secondary surgery to reconstruct the babies’ digestive andurinary tracts after three months.  

DrTruong Quang Dinh, the hospital’s director, said the doctors had worked closelywith Hung Vuong Hospital, where the twins were born in June 2019, to preparefor the surgery to separate them by 93 doctors and nurses from leading cityhospitals such as Children’s Hospitals 1 and 2 and Cho Ray Hospital.     

Dinhsaid many more things like physical rehabilitation are needed for the babies.

Speakingat a press meeting after the surgery, Prof Tran Dong A, 79, who headed the teamof surgeons that did the first ever surgery in Vietnam to separate conjoinedtwins in 1988 and was a consultant for the surgery this month, said it was abig challenge for doctors because the babies were joined at the pelvis andall four lower limbs were present and at right angles to the common torso.

Theglobal rate of conjoined twins is 1 per 200,000 live births, and only 6 percentare classified as ischiopagus tetrapus conjoinedtwins, or joined at the pelvis.

“Thirtytwo years ago we successfully performed the surgery to separate thetwins who were also joined at the pelvis like the 13 month-old twins,despite a shortage of materials such as antibiotics and sutures.

“Wereceived assistance from Japan.”

Thetwins, Nguyen Viet and Nguyen Duc of Kon Tum had had the surgery when they weresix years old. Viet had cerebral palsy, was in a coma and his life was underthreat. If he died, Duc could also die, and so the surgery had to be done toseparate and save Duc.

Vietmight also have a chance to survive then. The surgery lasted 15hours.

Ducgrew up into a healthy adult and got married while, sadly, Viet remained in avegetative state for 19 years before passing away.

Doctorsof Vietnam have so far performed 11 surgeries to separate conjoined twins.

Fiftydoctors and nurses at Vietnam National Children’s Hospital, for instance,performed a 10-hour surgery to separate a 10-month-old pair joined at theabdomen, chest, liver, duodenum, and small intestine in 2003.

Expertshad warned of risks but the outcome exceeded expectations.

Thetwins have grown up healthy and are preparing to sit the upcoming high schoolgraduation examination./.