Surgery to remove Indian girl's extra limbs a success

[Guest guest]

BANGALORE, India (AFP) - Indian surgeons said Wednesday they had

successfully removed the extra limbs from a two-year-old girl born with

four arms and four legs, in a gruelling operation that lasted more than

a day.

The girl, named Lakshmi after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth,

was born fused at the pelvis to a & quot;parasitic twin & quot; that stopped

developing in the womb.

 

She had absorbed the organs and body parts of the undeveloped foetus, a

condition that occurs once in 50,000 conjoined twin births, requiring

the rare, risky operation -- the first of its kind performed in India.

 

After more than 24 hours of surgery, Lakshmi was breathing Wednesday

with the aid of a ventilator and under observation at the intensive

care unit of Bangalore's Sparsh Hospital.

 

& quot;I'm very relieved and proud of my team, & quot; said Sharan Patil, the

orthopaedic surgeon who led the team that operated on her. & quot;But we

still have 48 to 72 hours in the post-operative period we have to be

extremely careful about. & quot;

 

& quot;She is a very small, delicate child and has been through a major

operation, & quot; the doctor told AFP. & quot;Even very small things can cause a

major impact so we are keeping a very close watch on her. & quot;

 

A team of 36 doctors covering a range of specialities from paediatrics

to plastic surgery removed Lakshmi's extra limbs, saved one of her

kidneys that was in both bodies and reconstructed her pelvis.

 

 

Doctors said the girl would have been unlikely to live into her teens with her

condition.

 

& quot;The surgery went according to the plan -- every step of it was

successful. There were no setbacks whatsoever, & quot; a tired but cheerful

Patil told a press conference.

 

Patil, who thanked the & quot;blessings of elders and the good wishes of the

entire country & quot; for the success of the surgery, said doctors would

remain at the hospital until Lakshmi stabilises.

 

 

Doctors had said that Lakshmi had an 80 percent chance of surviving the

procedure.

 

& quot;We have to monitor her very closely for the next two to three days

before we are able to say anything more, & quot; said hospital spokeswoman

Mamatha Patil.

 

& quot;Having said that, she is not in any kind of danger right now, & quot; she

added. & quot;The operation was a success, and she looks normal now, with two

arms and two legs. & quot;

 

 

Lakshmi was brought to Bangalore

by her parents Shambhu, a manual labourer from eastern Bihar state, and

Poonam, for the surgery. The hospital bore the cost of the operation,

estimated at 2.4 million rupees (about 60,000 dollars).

 

& quot;We wanted to give her a future, & quot; Shambhu told a local television

network, speaking in Hindi, as he and his wife waited to be told by

doctors when they could see their daughter.

 

He said he was not tense about his daughter's condition because

& quot;everyone's prayers are with her. & quot; Doctors praised the parents for

their & quot;commitment to the wellbeing & quot; of Lakshmi.

 

 

Last week, a privately-run hospital in Mumbai

offered free surgery to separate four-year-old conjoined twins -- Veena

and Vani -- after their parents said they did not have enough money to

pay for the surgery.

 

 

The twins, kept under observation in a hospital in the southern city of

Hyderabad since April last year, are fused at their heads, but the facility said

it could not carry out the complex surgery.Group

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