In a rare surgery, Iraq boy born with eight limbs gets new lease of life in India

A baby born with eight limbs, including two protruding from his stomach, has undergone surgery in India to successfully remove the extra arms and legs, in an operation being hailed as a world first


Sarwed Ahmed Nadar, the boy’s father, flew the infant to India for surgery, where doctors performed a three-stage operation to remove the extra limbs. Nadar with his wife and the baby after his surgery at Jaypee Hospital in Noida

In a rare and unique surgery, doctors remove eight extra limbs from a seven-month-old baby brought to India from Iraq for the operation.

Karam was born with an extremely rare condition where a conjoined twin did not fully develop and was partially absorbed, which resulted in additional limbs.

Sarwed Ahmed Nadar, the boy’s father, flew the infant to India for surgery, where doctors performed a three-stage operation to remove the unnecessary limbs. A team of doctors at Jaypee Hospital conducted the surgery in three stages, first removing the limbs sticking out from his stomach before correcting a cardiac complication.

Speaking to My Medical Mantra, Senior Orthopaedic Consultant Gaurav Rathore, who was part of the team, informed that there are barely five or six known cases of this condition globally.

“He was brought to us when he was just two weeks old and his condition was unique. Most of the surgeries we performed had not been attempted before,” said Rathore.

He added that the condition is known as polymelia wherein the baby was partially conjoined with an underdeveloped twin. The surgery to remove his four extra limbs was done in two parts.

“We removed muscles from his two extra limbs in August, we preserved the muscles and then transported it in one of his foot, which was not fully developed,” said Rathore.

In the final procedure, the doctors removed all the extra limbs, though they said Karam will require more treatments as he grows older to correct other anomalies.

“A baby born with eight limbs, including two protruding from his stomach, has undergone surgery in India to successfully remove the extra arms and legs, in an operation being hailed as a world first,” Rathore added.

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