Tanzania President Samia Suruhu Hassan yesterday commended to the Muhimbili National Hospital medical specialists for successful separation of conjoined twins in a complicated surgery which took seven hour more.
She said that what was done is the step in the implementation of the government plan of enhancing specialized healthcare in the country.
The head of the state through her official Twitter account @SulusuSamia she said “I played for quick recovery for the children, Neema and Rehema,”
A total of 31 health specialists collaborated in the surgery on Friday of separating some of the internal body organs the twins shared including heart sack, chest bones as well as liver and arteries. After the process, MNH pediatric surgeon Dr. Zaitun Bokhary noticed that the length of the time were required for the operation done early due to carefulness of doctors in the separation of other important organs from the liver.
“The main task and complexity was on the separation of the liver which was almost used by the two, but also the heart sack which had to make the surgery successful” Dr. Bokhary said.
According her, the surgery started at around 9; AM and ended at around 3; PM involving specialists such as Radiologists, anaesthetist’s, haematologists, plastic surgeons among others. Among the 31 specialists, 26 were Tanzanians while the other were foreigners.
“Every time is a learning time for medical doctors, but we had a liver specialist who has done a great job on separating the organ in collaboration with other specialists,” Dr. Bokhary said.
Prof. Martin Corbally who is a liver specialist said that the surgery was not easy but it was successfully through the help of other specialists who were part of the process. Also, he said that the twins will now be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for few days while experts following their progress.
MNH publicized earlier this week that it will conduct a surgery to the conjoined twins from Mwabayande village at Mwigwa ward in Maswa District, Simiyu region who born with 4.9 kilograms on September 21, 2021 and share the liver and a bone in the chest.
Medical specialists at Muhimbili National Hospital scrutinized the twins since their arrival from Bugando Refferal hospital in Mwanza where they were given referral and saw to it that it is an issue the hospital could handle. They were brought to MNH on 12 November last year having 7 kilograms and now they are weighing 13.3 kilograms.
This is the third time of the complex surgery carried out in the country; the first was in 1994, and the second in 2018 involved two boys who are now three years old living in Kisarawe District, Cost region.
MNH has in latest years improved its ability to provide major services whereby the first was Cochlear implant, radiology intervention, kidney transplant and bone marrow transplants. The hospital first propelled kidney transplant services and later in the year sent its experts for training on conducting liver transplants.
The kidney transplant was the second achievement by the hospital after a fruitful cochlear implant surgery in June 2017. The step reduces costs of liver transplant by 50%. Only one successful transplant costs almost Tsh. 100 million in India which is believed as cheap.