AIIMS to conduct second surgery of conjoined twins Jaga-Kalia in mid-October

Jaga and Kalia, conjoined twins of Odisha, are expected to undergo the second phase of surgery to separate their heads in mid-October at the AIIMS, New Delhi.

The 28-month-old twins who are joined at the heads were taken to AIIMS on July 13 and a team of 40 doctors conducted the 20-hour long first surgery on them on August 28.

Jaga and Kalia are conjoined twins who are fused at the cranium.

"The health condition of Jaga-Kalia is fine after first surgery at the AIIMS in New Delhi, they are expected to go for the crucial second surgery after one-and-a-half months," Odisha Health Minister P K Jena said.

Odisha government has been funding the operation and deployed a health department employee to keep a tab on the health condition of the twins. A mass prayer was offered to Lord Jagannath by an organization at a local temple for the quick recovery of Jaga and Kalia.

Craniopagus is a very rare kind of surgery and only 59 such surgeries have been conducted in the world since 1973 while the most recent one taken place in New York in November 2016.