Conjoined twins now breathe separate lives after surgery in Saudi Arabia

Sudanese conjoined twins Mamdooh and Mahmood were successfully separated after a 13-hour-long surgery at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Medical City in the Ministry of National Guard here Saturday evening.

This is the 34th successful surgery of Siamese twins conducted in the Kingdom.

The surgery covered nine stages.

The father of the twins thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah who had issued directives for the treatment of the twins.

The multidisciplinary and surgical teams at the Ministry of National Guard, headed by Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, met several times to review the case.

Mamdooh and Mahmood shared the chest, abdomen and pelvis.

The one twin had a very complex deformed heart and impaired kidney function. He shared gall bladder, liver and urinary system all of which made the case high risk.

The surgical team met the parents twice explaining fully the complexities of the separation with a success rate of 30%.

The operation was expected to take approximately 17 hours, but it was finished four hours ahead of schedule.

The surgical team comprised 28 members covering anesthesia, pediatric, urology, orthopedics, plastics and nursing.

This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on May 25, 2014.