California surgeons separated two two-year-old twins on Tuesday, as they were adjacent to the chest and abdomen, during a long and complicated surgery at a children''s hospital in the United States. The operation that gave sisters Julie and Angelica Sabuka from the Philippines their freedom took over nine hours and a team of more than 40 people.
By midday, the two children were transferred to the operating room for the second stage of the surgery, which was to reconstruct the area that connected them together. After two hours, they were transferred to the intensive care unit, where each had scars extending from the chest to the abdomen.
"The dream has come true," said their mother, Gennady Sabuco, as they shed tears in front of reporters after the surgery. "I cannot express how the family is feeling."
Dr. Gary Hartman, the chief surgeon said the operation went smoothly.
He added, "We expect in the long term to get happy results and the two girls will be happy and enjoy good health as well, and we do not see any obstacle to their full recovery."
The girls moved to the United States with their mother last year. And they were fine, despite the hurdles. Learn to walk in spite of meeting faces due to the close proximity of the chest and abdomen.
Hartmann said that staying attached could pose long-term health risks, including increased damage to the skeletal system and muscles.
The surgery requires separating the liver, diaphragm, chest bones and muscles, and the abdominal wall.
The restoration included what plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Lorenz described as looking like a "window" after the separation.
The two children were kept under painkillers and doctors said they would wake up early on Wednesday, and they are expected to stay in hospital for at least two weeks.
