A baby boy born with four arms and four legs in Uganda is recovering
well after a successful three-hour operation.
Paul Mukisa was born on May 27 to 28-year-old Margaret Awino, . Upon
noticing the baby's deformity the family rushed him to a nearby hospital
near the small town of Nabigingo. They were quickly referred to Mulago
Hospital in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
On Aug. 18 Paul finally received surgery.
"The baby was given general
anesthesia and the torso and trunk of the parasitic twin -- which had
two arms but no head or heart -- was detached from the host baby," Dr.
Nasser Kakembo, one of the surgeons who performed the operation told
CNN. "Then we also detached the lower limbs of the parasitic twin from
the host, which included disarticulating the right and left lower limbs
as they were attached by joints. We controlled the bleeding and
fashioned skin flaps to close the resulting wound," he said. "There were
no intra-operative or post-operative complications and mild blood loss
and a precautionary blood transfusion was given." The baby has now been
reported to be recovering well and healthily breastfeeding. He is
expected to remain at the hospital for about two more weeks. Paul's
condition is extremely rare, and is believed to occur when one twin
stops developing at some point during the surgery and merges with the
still-developing baby. "The father and mother were very grateful because
at first they thought it was due to witchcraft, and their baby was a
laughing stock because of the abnormalities," said Kakembo.
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