Doctors Separate Siamese Twins For The Second Time At KATH In 12 Yrs

A team of 17 medical officers and nurses at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) Tuesday successfully carried out a delicate surgical operation to separate female Siamese twins who were joined at the abdomen.

The Siamese twins were also joined at the pelvis and intestines, a development which made their separation very delicate.

The medical team, led by Professor Francis Abantanga, began the operation around 10 a.m. and continued to work on the twins until 6:15 p.m. when they successfully separated them.

Moments after the twins had been separated, the members of the medical team were excited, clapping and beaming with smiles.

The feat was the second to be chalked up by KATH in 12 years. In 2001, a medical team, led by the late Professor Amon Niquaye and Professor Abantanga, carried out the first successful separation of Siamese twins.

Immediately after they had been separated, the babies were carried onto two separate surgical tables where plastic surgeons started working on them to repair the openings in their abdomens and other parts of their bodies.

At the time Daily Graphic was leaving the corridors of the theatre of the hospital around 7 p.m., there were indications that the repair work would take not less than four hours.

A member of the medical team, Dr Raphael Kumah Ametepeh, who is an orthopedic surgeon, described the operation as highly successful.

He told journalists that the operation had been a very delicate one.

He said the nature of the operation needed God's guidance but gave an assurance that the babies were in very good condition.

According to KATH authorities, the Siamese twins were born three months ago but were not in stable conditions to enable medical officers to carry out the surgical operation at that time, hence the delay .

The news of the birth of the Siamese twins was first carried by Joy FM, which called for public support for the mother of the twins to raise funds for the operation.

The MTN Foundation responded by donating GH¢20,000, while an appeal by the radio station also raised GH¢12,000.

Prior to the operation, a member of the medical team had told the Daily Graphic that with God's guidance, they would be able to separate the twins.

He said the operation would be very delicate, but added that given the quality of the team assembled, the expectation was high that it would be successful.