Fijian conjoined twins Jasepeli and Desicia were successfully separated in Riyadh today by the medical and surgical team of the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program. The operation took place at King Abdullah Specialized Children's Hospital at King Abdulaziz Medical City, part of the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs.

Team leader Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Advisor at the Royal Court and Supervisor General of KSrelief, said the surgery lasted 12 hours and 45 minutes and was carried out in nine stages by 34 consultants, specialists, technicians and nurses from anaesthesia, paediatric surgery, plastic surgery, orthopaedics, urology and supporting specialties.

The girls were joined at the abdomen and pelvis and shared a liver, intestines, colon, anus, urinary and reproductive systems, and pelvic bone.

Dr. Al Rabeeah said it was the program's first operation on twins from the Republic of Fiji and its 74th overall. Over more than 35 years, the program has covered 28 countries on five continents and assessed 159 cases worldwide, and its successes have made the Kingdom a leading global centre in the field, he said.

On behalf of the team, he thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for their generous support of the program. The twins' family also expressed their gratitude to the Saudi leadership and the medical team for the care their daughters received.