RIYADH, 29 March 2006 — The Moroccan twins Hafsah and Elham who underwent a 15-hour surgical operation to separate them in the King Abdul Aziz Medical City here early this month have been discharged from the intensive care unit, Arab News has learned.
According to Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, chief surgeon and head of the multidisciplinary team, the twins have completely stabilized.
“They continue to do well. Their condition has completely stabilized and they have been discharged from the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and moved to General Pediatric Ward,” he said. “All of their vital organs, activities and interaction with their parents and surroundings have returned to normal.”
Al-Rabeeah further stated that the twins were being bottle-fed and were gaining weight. “Their wounds are healing and there are no signs of infection or complications,” he added.
Hafsah and Elham will be subjected to an intensive physiotherapy and rehabilitation program in order to strengthen their lower limbs and enable them to stand and walk in the future. They are expected to remain in Ward 7 for an additional four to six weeks before being discharged from the hospital. The twins were admitted to the hospital on Jan. 2; they were joined at the abdomen and pelvis, sharing one anus and one urinary opening.
This is the eleventh successful operation to separate conjoined twins at the National Guard Hospital. Al-Rabeeah’s team already performed 10 such operations in the past, the latest of which was the separation of Egyptian twins Ala and Wala in June 2005.
Since 1990 conjoined twins separated at the National Guard Hospital included three Saudi pairs, two Sudanese and one pair each from Malaysia, the Philippines and Poland and two Egyptian pairs. They all survived and are leading normal lives. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has supported all the 11 operations.
