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Delhi

Conjoined twins undergo surgery

New Delhi: A team of specialist at AIIMS performed a rare surgery to separate twin brother Jaga and Balaia, who are joined from the head, which completed successfully on Tuesday.
Almost 20 hours long operation, attempted for the first time in the country, the surgeons have been able to partially separate the brains of the twins and to create venous bypass, since the two shared veins that pass blood to the heart from the brain.
"The surgery began on Monday at around 9 am and went on till 5 am on Tuesday. The children are under observation," a senior doctor at AIIMS said. According to the doctor, the surgery to separate them will be taken up by October end.
A team of around 20 specialists from the institute's neurosurgery, neuro-anaesthesia and plastic surgery department besides a Japanese expert were involved in the procedure.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government on Tuesday said it would seek assistance of a specialist doctor from the US for the second phase of surgery on the conjoined twins.
"The health condition of the twins is stable. The government is now planning to engage a specialist doctor from the US for the second phase of operation," PK Jena, state health and family welfare minister, said.
Ashok Mohapatra, Head of the Department, Neurosurgery, AIIMS said, "The twins have been kept on ventilation as the doctors are careful against any kind of infection."
Moreover, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday tweeted, "I join the people of Odisha in prayer for success of surgery and new life for the conjoined twins fondly called Jaga-Balaia". Earlier, Patnaik had sanctioned Rs one crore from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the surgery on the conjoined twins.
Deepak Gupta, professor of neurosurgery, had said the twins suffer from the condition which afflicts one in 30 lakh children, of which 50 per cent die either at birth or within 24 hours.
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