Conjoined twins surgery: Jaga on mother's lap, Kalia still in

Jaga, one of the conjoined twins from Odisha whose heads were separated on October 26 at the AIIMS here, was shifted out of the ICU to a private ward within eight days after the surgery and was today seen sitting on his mother's lap and also taken out in the corridor.
His twin brother Kalia, who continues to be in the ICU, has shown some improvement in the form of movements of limbs.
The two-years-five-months old twins, who were joined at head, were separated following a 16-hour-long surgery.
Kalia underwent a plastic surgery at the hospital on Saturday, during which the unhealthy part of the skin flap of his skull was removed.

The surgery was performed by a team of doctors, including Dr Deepak Kumar Gupta, Professor of Neurosurgery, Dr Maneesh Singhal, HOD of the plastics, reconstructive and burns surgery at the AIIMS, Dr Rajeev Sharma and assistant professor of neurosurgery.
"Jaga is on liquid diet which he is taking orally. He was taken out of the room in the corridor today. He also sat in his mother's lap and looked happy. He also was following melodies," Dr Gupta said.

Kalia has shown some improvement in the form of movement of limbs but he likely to stay in the ICU for long time and his outcome is more unpredictable, Dr A K Mahapatra, chief of neurosciences centre at AIIMS said.

The twins were admitted to the AIIMS on July 13.
The first phase of the separation surgery was performed on August 28 when the doctors created a venous bypass to separate the veins shared by the babies that return blood to the heart from the brain.
Doctors said that the condition, which the twins suffered from, afflicted one in 30 lakh children, of which 50 per cent die either at birth or within 24 hours.
In India, two similar surgeries had taken place to separate twins joined at the head, but they were not successful as the children died during the procedure.