A surgeon says a complicated procedure to separate conjoined South Texas infants went well and the girls face several months of hospital care.
A statement from Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi says the 10-month-old sisters were recovering Wednesday in pediatric intensive care.
Dr. Haroon Patel led Tuesday's 12 hours of surgery to separate Ximena and Scarlett Hernandez-Torres.
Patel says the operations, with a team of medical specialists, went smoothly.
The girls, born last May 16, shared a colon and bladders. Their identical triplet sister, Catalina, was born without serious health issues.
The hospital staff has cared for the conjoined girls since they were transferred to the Corpus Christi facility hours after birth.
Patel says a team of specialists had been working for months to prepare for the surgery.
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A hospital statement says doctors have a positive outlook for the children's recovery. The girls will require additional surgeries as they grow.
Grand Prairie brothers Owen and Emmett Ezell, born conjoined in July 2013, were separated at Dallas' Medical City Children's Hospital in August of that same year and sent home from a rehab center in April 2014.
The boys, who were joined from the breast bone to the belly button, are now learning to talk and are quickly approaching their third birthday. The boys are now big brothers to sister Ella Rae Harper Ezell and are expected to enter preschool in the fall.
