Sabah hospital achieves milestone with complex surgery separating 28-day-old conjoined twins

KOTA KINABALU, July 7 — The Sabah Women and Children’s Hospital (HWKKS) in Likas has achieved a historic first after successfully performing a separation surgery on pygopagus conjoined twins, marking a major advancement for specialised paediatric care in the state.

The complex procedure was carried out last Thursday (July 2) at the hospital’s main operating theatre by a multidisciplinary team of specialists.

Pygopagus twins are conjoined at the lower back, specifically the sacrum, and may share parts of the neural tube, lower digestive tract and genital organs.

The twins, premature baby girls born at 32 weeks from a rural area in Sabah, required early intervention due to critical complications affecting one of them, including heart problems and kidney failure.

Unlike typical separation surgeries conducted between four to six months of age, this procedure was performed when the twins were just 28 days old.

The surgery involved specialists from multiple disciplines, including neonatology, anaesthesiology, paediatric surgery, neurosurgery, spinal surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and radiology, with additional support from specialist teams from Peninsular Malaysia.

Both infants were successfully separated and are currently in stable condition, receiving close monitoring in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Nicu).

The achievement underscores the growing capability of Sabah’s healthcare system in managing complex congenital conditions locally, reducing the need for patients to seek treatment outside the state and easing the emotional and financial burden on families. — The Borneo Post