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Surgery on girl with 4 arms, 4 legs is declared a success

Doctors caution, however, that the 2-year-old girl is not yet out of danger.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published November 8, 2007

BANGALORE, India - Doctors in southern India completed a grueling 24-hour operation Wednesday on a girl born with four arms and four legs that surgeons said will give the 2-year-old a chance at a normal life.

The surgery went "wonderfully well," said Dr. Sharan Patil, who led a team of more than 30 surgeons in the marathon procedure to remove Lakshmi's extra limbs, salvage her organs and rebuild her pelvis area.

"This girl can now lead as good a life as anyone else," Patil said from a hospital in Bangalore.

But he cautioned that Lakshmi was still not out of danger.

"We are still not ready to celebrate, as she will be in the critical zone for the next 48 to 72 hours," the doctor said.

Lakshmi, who has been revered by some in her village as the reincarnation of the Hindu goddess she was named for, 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 fetus.

The doctors worked through the night to remove the extra limbs and organs. By midnight, a team of neurologists had separated the fused spines, while orthopedic surgeons removed most of the "parasite," carefully identifying which organs and internal structures belonged to the girl, said Patil.

Then began the difficult job of reconstructing Lakshmi's lower body.

The operation included transplanting a good kidney into Lakshmi from the twin. The team also used tissue from the twin to help rebuild the pelvic area, one of the most complicated parts of the surgery, Patil said.

"Beyond our expectations, the reconstruction worked wonderfully well," Patil said. "We were able to bring the pelvic bones together successfully, which takes away the need for another procedure," he said.

However, she will have to have further treatments and possible surgery for clubbed feet before she would be able to walk, he said.

Her mother, who is currently pregnant with a healthy fetus, was overwhelmed, Patil said.

Doctors at Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore said they were performing the surgery, at an estimated cost of $625,000, for free because the family could not afford the medical bills.

[Last modified November 8, 2007, 00:37:03]