A multidisciplinary team at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh successfully completed the separation of Moroccan conjoined twins in a marathon 14-hour surgery that started at 7.30 A.M. Saturday. The news was announced by Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeah, who headed the team, to separate the twins in implementation of the order of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency after attending the separation of the twins, Moroccan Ambassador to the Kingdom Abdulkareem Alsammar hailed King Abdullah's humanitarian efforts. The parents of the twins also thanked the King. The twins, Azizah and Saeedah, were conjoined at liver, pancreas, liver ducts, and the upper small intestine. This was the 23rd such separation taking place at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, internationally acclaimed as the center for achieving high percentage of surgical separation of conjoined twins brought to the Kingdom from all over the world. In the earlier phases, the medical team performed skin incisions followed by separation of the underling tissue, then the peritoneum was opened. The surgeons then started the separation of the exposed side of the twins' skin, the abdomen wall muscles and separation of conjoined ribs. The phase four of the operation was over at around 3.30 P.M. when the doctors detached the liver and started procedures to separate the biliary tract and pancreas. Other procedures including separation of the shared bowel (phase 5), reconstution (phase 6) and dressing and the plastic surgery were completed during the three phases of the operation. Liver and pancreas were separated using the ultrasonic scalpel technique. The Moroccan twins were brought to the Kingdom on May 13 on King Abdullah's directive.
