Bangalore: Lakshmi, the two-year-old girl who had eight limbs, was on Tuesday shown to the world a week after surgeons removed the parasitic twin attached to her body.
The child appeared on television with her parents looking lively, despite being in a cast from her waist down. Doctors had taken her off life support systems on Monday, after she showed a remarkable reccovery in the past 48 hours. Doctors say Lakshmi is now eating semi-solid food.
Lakshmi underwent a 27-hour long surgery last Wednesday to remove the extraneous limbs and reconstruct some of her body parts. Her parents, who hail from Bihar, had brought her to Bangalore after a New Delhi hospital refused to perform the operation.
Lakshmi, who was revered by people in her village in Bihar as a goddess, was born joined at the pelvis to a ''parasitic twin'' that stopped developing in her mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped twin.
A team of more than 30 surgeons finished a 27-hour operation last Wednesday, removing the extra limbs, transplanting a kidney from the twin and reconstructing Lakshmi's pelvic area.
Lakshmi has made steady progress, said Dr Mamatha Patil, a spokeswoman for the Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore. She was taken off a respirator on Friday afternoon and her parents were allowed to visit. On Saturday, she was fed milk and water, Patil said, and her mother spent two hours with her.
''Her mother was very happy and Lakshmi was also happy to be with her,'' Patil added. ''She is certainly doing well.''
The doctors who performed the complicated surgery have said it was very successful, meaning she would not need further major reconstructive surgery. However, Lakshmi will need further treatment and possible surgery for clubbed feet before she will be able to walk.
Comments
0 comment