The rare medical procedure was carried out successfully by a team of seven doctors who spent 14 hours preparing for the surgery while the surgery itself took four hours. The twins' prognosis looks good, and doctors believe the babies should make a full recovery.
Richard Wayne, administrator of the children's hospital, said that although the twins had a relatively normal anatomy, the most dangerous factor in performing a separation was careful monitoring of the veins that were joined.
Dr. Micam Tullous, one of the surgeons who helped separate the twins, said that the twin boys were responding appropriately to the signals and looked happy.
Also, there was no connection of brain tissue in the twins, which made the chances of their recovery brighter.
The twins entered the hospital on Friday and doctors said they will likely stay at the hospital another week before they are sent home. The family wished to remain anonymous.
Conjoined twins are identical twins twins whose bodies are joined in utero. It is a rare phenomenon; it is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 200,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa.
