The conjoined twins in Odisha aged 28 months were successfully separated after a lengthy surgery by a team of doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The craniopagus conjoined twins Jaga and Kalia hails from Milipada village under Phiringia block in Kandhamal district of Odisha who got separated successfully. The craniopagus conjoined twins is a very rare condition in which the twins are joined at the heads.

The surgery gets successful for only 25 percent of the survivors and many others have to live with the condition itself.

The second phase of this surgery is still underway and will continue till Thursday morning as reported by the Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena in Bhubaneswar.

The surgery to separate cranipagus conjoined twins took place for around 11 hours after which they got separated successfully. The health condition of both the kids is stable. And now plastic surgery experts are working on them and will complete the procedure by 9 or 10 am on Thursday morning.

Naveen Patnaik, Odisha Chief Minister congratulated the team of specialists from the AIIMS neurosurgery, neuro-anaesthesia and plastic departments for separating the conjoined twins successfully.

Interestingly no expert doctors from abroad were involved to separate the heads of the conjoined twins. The conjoined twins were taken to the operation theatre at 6 am on Wednesday and the surgery was initiated at 9 am and it lasted for 22 hours including plastic surgery.

The first phase of the surgery was done on August 28 and the doctors created a venous bypass to separate the veins which the babies shared that returns blood from the brain to the heart.

The Odisha government was ready to bear the surgery expenses of the foreign doctors and even suggested AIIMs to engage experts from across the world. But even without the help of foreign doctors, AIIMS doctors succeeded in the operation.

Bhuyan Kanhar who is the father of the conjoined twins said that the surgery was performed as the health condition of Jaga deteriorated. They were admitted to the AIIMS on July 13. The Odisha government has granted Rs one crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) for the treatment.

AK Mahapatra,the chief of the neurosciences centre previously said that the twins are suffering from a health condition which usually affects one child in 30 lakh children and 50% die either at birth or within 24 hours.

The surgery is feasible to only 25% of the survivors and the rest of them continue to live with that condition.

He also added that there is less than 20% chance of survival among those who undergo this surgery. These surgeries are extremely challenging.

  Conjoined Twins, craniopagus conjoined twins, Odisha