Conjoined Bhutanese twins undergo separation surgery
Surgeons in Australia on Friday began a complex operation to separate 15-month-old Bhutanese conjoined twins Nima and Dawa Pelden . The girls are joined at the torso and share a liver and possibly a bowel, their doctor said, adding "our challenge will be to reconstruct their abdominal walls to close it over", the BBC reported. "What we will be looking for is simply what bits actually connect the two girls together," lead surgeon Joe Crameri told reporters on Friday. He said they would separate the liver, but there was one "unknown" --whether the girls shared a bowel. If it was, it would also be divided, he said. Nima and Dawa face each other, and cannot sit down together. They can stand if they do so at the same time, the BBC said. About 18 specialists in two teams, one for each girl, are taking part in the procedure at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. The surgery is expected to last at least six hours. Read Complete Art