13-hours Surgery: Co-joined Twins Successfully Separated in Abuja

Goodness and Mercy Martins, a pair of conjoined twins, have been separated after a team of Nigerian medical experts spent 13 hours performing a complex surgery on them in Abuja.

The two babies were delivered at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Keffi, on August 13, 2018, conjoined face-to-face at the chest and abdomen, from where they were referred to the National Hospital, Abuja the following day, August 14, 2018.

They required about N20m for complex surgeries that would see them separated at the heart and the liver which were fused together from the womb.

Fortunately in their case, the management of the National Hospital Abuja decided to fund their care and the entire processes leading to the major surgical procedure for their separation as its corporate social responsibility.

The Surgery was successfully done on November 12th, 2019, by a combined team of medical personnel led by Surgeon, Prof. Emmanuel Ameh.

A team of 78 indigenous medical professionals, comprising  surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists, paediatricians, radiologists, haematologists, chemical pathologists, and  pharmacists conducted the surgery.

Ameh said pre-surgery examination conducted revealed that the babies shared vital organs including, liver, chest wall, diaphragm and pericardium. He said experts , however, successfully shared the liver for the two babies using modern medical equipment.