Surgery success on girl with 8 limbs

Doctors operated on a two-year-old south Indian girl yesterday to remove an extra set of arms and legs that she was born with. The limbs and extra internal organs belonged to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in the womb and became part of the surviving featus. The little girl, named Lakshmi after a Hindu goddess with four arms, is now recovering after a team of more than 30 surgeons in Bangalore worked to remove the twin's limbs and organs and separate the fused spines. From the Associated Press:

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, (lead surgeon Sharan) 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.

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Discussion

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#1 posted by Doctor Pickles , November 7, 2007 10:37 AM

Glad to hear she made it out OK!

The pre-surgery footage they showed of her on the local news in Berkeley was one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen on television.

#2 posted by Flying Squid

, November 7, 2007 11:06 AM

Oh sure, Kali finally reincarnates and you go chop her arms off. Typical.

#3 posted by Caveman Joe

, November 7, 2007 11:22 AM

I just mentioned to the Girlfriend of Doom that the operation was a success - she immediately asked what they did with the extra limbs.
I don't know what scares me more - the fact that she asked, or the fact that I now want to know too.

#4 posted by cog2803 , November 7, 2007 11:48 AM

and the world loses a potentially incredible drummer . . .

#5 posted by weaponx , November 7, 2007 12:49 PM

It's sad really with that state our economy is in, the value of arms & legs has been cut by 25%.

#6 posted by june

, November 7, 2007 1:56 PM

I would imagine they incinerated her extra limbs, like any other medical waste.

#7 posted by Radio Tirana , November 7, 2007 2:13 PM

Having read these comments, I decide to save for a better occasion whatever wit I may have.

#8 posted by agnot , November 7, 2007 9:51 PM

God and/or humanity and/or the Universe be with this poor girl.

#9 posted by Anonymous , November 8, 2007 8:20 AM