The Kenyatta National Hospital surgeons have successfully separated conjoined twins.
The operation makes Kenya the first country to carry out the first ever sarcophagus surgery in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Blessing and Favour, the twins, were born on September 4, 2014 at St Theresa Hospital, Kiirua in Meru County and shared the anal canal.
The separation surgery of the Sacrophagus twins who were joined at the lower back took 23 hours.
The twins have been in KNH since 5th September 2014 following their referral from St Theresa Hospital.
The multidisciplinary team of over fifty (50) medical specialists including paediatric surgeons, neurosurgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, anesthetists and nursing teams performed the 23 hour long highly delicate surgery on 1st November 2016 at the KNH Main Theatres leading to the successful separation of the twins.
The surgery ended 2nd November, 2016 at 5:00am.
“The children have been admitted in the Specialized Surgical Paediatric Ward for over two years to allow development of key organs and also enable them gain appropriate muscles to withstand the surgery. The conjoined twin girls who were born on 4th September 2014 were joined at the sacral region of the lower spinal cord,” The Hospital said in a statement
“The children are stable, receiving specialised care and we are monitoring progress. We are confident that they will fully recovery and live normal independent lives to adulthood.”