A gruelling, 24-hour-long operation to remove the extra limbs of a girl born with four arms and four legs was a spectacular success, leaving her in stable condition, doctors announced today.
Dr Sharan Patil, right, talks to Lakshmi at the Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore, India
A team of more than 30 physicians successfully removed the 2-year-old Indian girl's extra limbs, salvaged her organs, and rebuilt her pelvis area, Dr Sharan Patil said from a hospital in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.
"Beyond our expectations, the reconstruction worked wonderfully well," said Dr Patil, the lead orthopaedic surgeon during the operation.
The girl, named Lakshmi, is revered by some in her village as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess. She was born joined to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in her mother's womb.
The surviving foetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped foetus. The complications for Lakshmi's surgery were myriad: She was born with four kidneys, entangled nerves, two stomach cavities and two chest cavities.
She cannot stand up or walk. The surgery also included separating the fused spines, Dr Patil said. "Every step was successful. There was no setback whatsoever."