Twins recovering after separation surgery in LA

Ten-month-old twins who were separated in the US are being closely monitored by doctors as they looked for any signs of infection from the long and complicated surgery.

Regina and Renata Salinas Fierros remained on ventilators and were listed in serious, but stable, condition late yesterday as they lay in side-by-side beds in intensive care at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

The first 48 hours after surgery will be critical for the twins, doctors said.

“To see the girls beginning to wake up and move and respond is great excitement for us all,” said lead surgeon Dr James Stein.

Doctors said they wiggled their legs after they were taken from the operating room earlier yesterday. Renata, whose operation was completed after her sister’s, was the sleepier of the pair. Regina moved an arm, doctors said.

The operation began early on Wednesday, and the reconstructive surgery ended 22 hours later – two hours earlier than doctors had anticipated.

The girls were born facing each other and joined from the lower chest to the pelvis. Doctors made an incision at the breastbone and then divided the internal organs. The twins shared a large intestine and doctors decided to give the organ to Renata. Regina might require a colostomy later in life, doctors said.

Both will require physical therapy and possible additional surgeries, doctors said. They said the girls should live normal lives.

The girls’ parents, who came from Mexico, said they have not decided whether they will return to their country.

Sonia Fierros, 23, said there was a lot she looked forward to: “To see our daughters run, go to a normal school, to prepare themselves for life, to enjoy everything that life has to offer.”