Times of India
Bangalore, Nov 8: Surgery successful: Wednesday brought this good news that everyone was waiting for. Two-year-old Lakshmi Tatma was successfully separated from her parasitic twin by 10 am in a marathon operation that began early Tuesday.
When a sleepy little Lakshmi was wheeled into the operation theatre at 7 am on Tuesday, she was perhaps the biggest challenge before the doctors. But the team of 30 surgeons, after tirelessly operating on her for 27 hours, came out beaming to give the good news. Lakshmi, who underwent the non-stop surgery at Sparsh Hospital in the city, is said to be stable; she is on ventilators in the ICU. Lakshmi will be under observation for the next 48 to 72 hours, said Dr Sharan Patil, who led the team of surgeons.
The team operating on a rare case of ‘ischiopagus conjoined parasitic twin’ was confronted with many challenges like blood loss, narrow blood vessels, functional kidneys in both Lakshmi and her parasitic twin, fused spine and shared vagina, urinary tract and anal canal. She had to be given blood twice through transfusion as she lost a lot of blood during the surgery. At one point, the doctors extracted a bone from Lakshmi’s non-breathing twin to reconstruct the pelvis, while other procedures were as complicated.
The paediatric surgery team operated on her first and carefully dissected out vital organs so that they could be preserved during removal of the parasite. Lakshmi’s internal structures were not exactly as they had appeared on the scans, but the surgeons were able to negotiate these difficulties. As Lakshmi herself had only one kidney, a second kidney from the parasite was successfully isolated and moved into her body.
Next, the orthopaedic team went in to perform the crucial part of the surgery - “the pelvic osteotomy”. The bones in Lakshmi’s pelvis were split apart in order that they could be moved closer to each other to form a ring, thus supporting Lakshmi’s internal organs above. The climax of the operation was at 12.30 am on Wednesday. It was a spectacular moment for everyone when the legs, arms, and remainder of the parasitic twin were removed from Lakshmi and were virtually held by Dr Patil. The plastic and micro vascular surgery team then stepped in to perform the soft tissue reconstruction and closing the open wound which was the final leg.
“The doctors are hopeful and we expect an excellent result,’’ said Dr Patil.
Lakshmi’s parents, Shambhu and Poonam, are eager to see their daughter. But they have to wait till the doctors give the green signal. As of now, they have to be satisfied with the regular updates on her condition.