Doctors at FMC Yola achieved a great feat on May 14, as they separated four month old conjoined female twins.
The team of surgeons led by the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yola, Professor Auwal Abubakar, took four hours to perform the operation which is the second of its kind conducted in the hospital.
Prof. Abubakar disclosed the development to journalists at a news conference held on Friday in Yola.
“We had a successful separation of conjoined female twins (Omphilopagus),” he stated.
“The development is recorded following a team work from different medical units,’’ Prof. Abubakar said.
He said that the surgery was conducted on May 14, adding that the chance of survival of the twins was “excellent’’. Mohammad recalled that the first separation in the hospital, was carried out in 2014 which was also successful. He noted that Nigeria had medical personnel that could compete with their counterparts in developed countries.
“We must do well and reduce the number of people going abroad for medical treatment,’’ he said.
Few months ago, some doctors also reportedly separated co-joined (siamese) twins in the Bauchi State, in an outreach sponsored by a Nigerian House of Representative Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.
The separation of the conjoined twins, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the Speaker on Media, Iliya Habila, who shared the photos on Facebook, was successfully conducted at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi by a team of doctors.
He said the medical outreach was sponsored by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Barrister Yakubu Dogara. Habila said: “Conjoined twins have been successfully separated by Doctors on the Move Africa in the ongoing free medical treatment sponsored by the Rt. Honourable Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi.”
The Punch reports that the free medical outreach, which began on Monday, is expected to last for one week and is for all residents of Bauchi State. During the period, outpatient consultations and medical check-up with drugs, ultrasound scan, reading glasses and cataract operations will be carried out, it was learnt.
