Last week, doctors in India successfully operated a 2-year-old girl born with four arms, four legs and extra internal organs. According to The sun news paper in the UK, a team of around 30 medics removed the remains of the girl’s underdeveloped identical twin sister who was joined at the pelvis and who was not properly separated in the womb. This operation which was identified as an extremely rare case went on very well said Mamta Patil, a doctor involved in the surgery at Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore in south India. This risky operation is said to have began on Tuesday last week. Lakshmi, named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth, was expected to be in the operating theatre for 40 hours, but the surgery was over after 27. The doctors who carried out the operation said that the surgery was worth the risk, Lakshmi, who could not walk on her deformed limbs, would not otherwise have much chance of living past adolescence. Besides the removal of the extra limbs, Lakshmi’s deformed pelvis and spine were corrected, and the redundant extra organs removed, doctors said. Lakshmi’s parents are poor laborers from Bihar state in northern India. They told newspapers that they had refused offers from circus owners to buy their daughter. Poonam, Lakshmi’s mother told the reporters that doctors said Lakshmi can lead a normal life after the operation. The place from which she was operated is willing to cover her surgery cost. Lakshmi is expected to be in intensive care for the next 48 hours. Ends
