Saudi Siamese twins to be separated on Thursday

• Al-Rabeeah predicted that the operation will take 12 hours in eight stages

It has been decided to separate the Saudi Siamese twins Sheikha and Shumukh at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in King Abdul Aziz Medical City on Thursday, in accordance with the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, general supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief), Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah has announced.
Al-Rabeeah predicted that the operation will take 12 hours in eight stages, involving about 30 doctors and specialists as well as technicians and nursing staff.
He pointed out that this Saudi humanitarian program has served 21 countries in three continents, and this will be the 46th conjoined twins separation operation conducted in the Kingdom.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Namshan, head of the pediatric surgery department at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital, explained that the twin females, four months old, weigh 6 kg each and are attached at the lower abdomen and pelvic region.
He added that both have full lower limbs and are linked in the pelvic area, the lower digestive system and the reproductive system. “The twins underwent the required clinical and basic medical examinations and their condition is stable,” he said.
Dr. Bandar bin Abdulmohsen Al-Knawy, CEO at National Guard Health Affairs, thanked the king and the crown prince for their unwavering support to health sectors in the Kingdom and for their keenness to further develop them according to Vision 2030.
He also commended the attention paid by Prince Khalid bin Abdul Aziz bin Ayyaf, minister of the national guard, to all measures adopted to receive the twins, thanking him for his steadfast support to health affairs at all levels.