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Free from parasitic twin, Lakshmi set for
homecoming
Sat, Dec 15, 2007 at 01:25
Bangalore: Lakshmi Tatma, the two-year-old who was successfully separated from
her parasitic conjoined twin in a complex surgery last month has fully recovered
and will be discharged from the hospital on Saturday.
"Lakshmi is normal. She has responded well to the post-operation treatment
and recovered fully. She will be discharged Saturday evening," Sparsh Hospital
chairman and chief orthopaedic surgeon Sharan Patil said.
"Lakshmi made significant progress. Her wounds have healed well. Her plaster
cast remains off and custom-made splints have been applied. Her rehabilitation
process was satisfactory," he said.
The hospital has arranged a special function to send-off Lakshmi with her parents
- Shambhu and Poonam, who hail from a village (Araria) in north Bihar.
The toddler was successfully operated Nov 6-7 in a marathon surgery lasting
27 hours at the super-specialty hospital in Narayana Health city on the outskirts
of India's IT hub by a team of 36 medics led by Patil.
"As you (media) may be aware, the case was complicated and a challenge
to the medical fraternity, as Lakshmi was born with eight limbs - two pairs
of arms and legs - at either end of the two adjoining torsos but one head.
"It was a rare case of ischiopagus conjoined twin, which occurs one in
over 50,000 births, with about 50 percent survival chances," Patil recalled.
The hospital decided to take up the challenge of separating the twins and saving
Lakshmi's life free-of-cost, as her parents belonged to an impoverished family.
The cost of such a surgery, the first of its kind in the sub-continent, is estimated
to have been about Rs.2.5 million, including rehabilitation and physiotherapy
for over a fortnight.
The term 'ischio' means pelvic bone in Greek and 'pagus' implies fused. Such
conjoined twins are among the very rare and complex to separate as they involve
many organ systems - liver, intestine, urinary, reproductive, vascular and musculo-skeletal
systems.
Though Lakshmi was admitted to the hospital Oct 3, the team of doctors decided
to first improve her overall health, as she was malnourished and anaemic.
"We had to first nourish her body and increase haemoglobin to normal level
and prepare her for the prolonged surgery, which was a bit risky considering
her age and the complications involved," Patil said.
He hoped Lakshmi would be able to walk and lead a normal life once her limbs
stabilised and gained enough strength to stand on her feet.
"It is going to be a long haul. She needs to keep her legs stretched and
exercising. As she hasn't walked since she was born, she should be able to do
it with some support initially," Patil added.
According to Sambhu, efforts to get Lakshmi treated in New Delhi early this
year did not succeed, as doctors were unwilling to undertake such a risky surgery
and the cost involved being prohibitive.
When Patil came know about Lakshmi's plight through social workers, he went
to her village to examine the conjoined twin and evaluate the possibility of
separating the deformed portion of her body by surgery
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“If you ask her today where are these limbs she says they are gone,”
says chairman, Sparsh, Dr Sharan S Patil.
The entire nation prayed for her as a team of surgeons, paramedics and technicians
separated her from her parasitic twin. She was born with two pairs of arms and
legs.