First conjoined twin separation surgery at BSMMU this month

The physicians of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) are set to perform their first-ever operation to separate conjoined babies that might cost Tk 30 lakh in total.

The conjoined babies--Nuha and Naba--who are now eight-month and 13-day old, have been undergoing treatment at the university hospital for the last five months.

This is the third separation attempt in the country.      

Professor of Neurosurgery Department Dr Mohammad Hossain, also the Dean of the Surgery Faculty, will lead the operation. A meeting of the medical board on the operation was held on Thursday where BSMMU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Md Sharfuddin Ahmed informed that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will bear the operating cost.

Prof Hossain came to know about these conjoined babies five months back when he took part in a programme in Kurigram. He also requested their parents to admit their babies to BSMMU.

According to BSMMU, the two babies who were born joined at the back share a spine, genitalia and part of their rectum.

Prof Hossain told the Business Post that it would be difficult to estimate the operating cost precisely. He, however, said that at least Tk 30 lakh would be needed to complete the entire process.

The actual cost would be estimated after the whole process is done. These babies would be placed under constant surveillance after a successful marathon operation possibly in mid-December. It would take 8-13 hours or more. Several organs would need to be reconstructed as they have some birth related health issues as well, he added.   

“For last five months, they have been undergoing treatment at the hospital. They might need to stay here for one more year after the first operation.”

“If everything goes as planned, they might need three or four sessions. But they might need as much as eight operations if any complex situation arises. They might need an ICU as well,” he explained.     

Prof Dr Hossain also said that the surgery team consists of neurosurgeons, urologists, pediatric surgeons, burn and plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, child nutritionists and physicians from different disciplines.   

With the developments after the first marathon surgery, necessity of new devices and technologies could be determined. So, it could exceed the primary estimation, he added.

A resident of Kathal Bari area transport worker Alamgir Rana, father of the children, said he and his wife Nasreen were in fear over the future of their children as they have no ability to bear the operating cost.

What is the current status of the first two cases?

Prof Dr Shahnoor Islam, a pediatric surgeon at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, who led the first separation attempt and was one of the senior members during the second attempt to separate another conjoined babies, said that they performed the first operation in 2017 and the second one in early 2022.

During the first conjoined babies’ operating process, they separated Tofa and Tahura, the then ten-month-old sisters who were born conjoined at the spine and rectum.

“Tofa is doing well but Tahura is in trouble. We will need to conduct an operation to reconstruct her rectum,” she added.

The two-and-a-half-year-old girls--Labiba and Lamisa—who were born joined at the back and shared a spine, genitalia and part of their intestinal tract were separated last year and they are doing well till now, she confirmed to the Business Post.