The Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah is preparing to return to the operating room to take on the separation of the Egyptian conjoined twins 'Mahmoud and Hasan' next Saturday the 28th of February.
This is the first surgery for Dr. Al Rabeeah since his appointment as Minister of Health earlier this month on February 14th. The newly appointed Minister ruled out the possibility of abandoning being a surgeon in spite of his administrative duties.
As directed by the Cusodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the twins arrived in King Abdulaziz Medical City two weeks ago.
They had to undergo medical tests to evaluate their case before a surgical decision could be made. Last Monday, the medical team met and decided to schedule the surgery for next week. This will be the twenty first separation operation performed by Dr. Al Rabeeah and his highly qualified team – intent on yet another surgery to add to the twenty successful operations before it.
The operation is expected to last around fifteen hours with a success rate up to 70 %. A rehearsal was scheduled for Wednesday to better prepare the team for the mission they had been assigned on Saturday.
The surgery is expected to be carried out in phases. The first step would be anesthesia followed by sterilization and opening of the abdomen. Then they will start the separation first of the intestine, the urinary tracts and reproductive organs, and then they will work on the pelvic. After that comes separating the twins, and finally the team finish up with reconstruction.