Boy born with extra limb has it removed

DOCTORS in Shanghai successfully operated on an 11-month-old boy who was born with three legs. The 10-hour surgery to remove the third limb was smooth.

Chen Qiu, director of Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center’s pediatric orthopedics department, said the young patient, Feifei, was born with congenital parasitic fetus.

“It happens when twins do not engender properly during their mother’s pregnancy. One of them is absorbed by the other, causing the deformity,” said Chen.

Similar cases affect one or two infants from a million newborn babies, Chen said.

Most of them can be detected during prenatal checks. However, Feifei’s mother, who is from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, did not undergo the checks.

Apart from the extra leg, Feifei had two pelvis and deformities in digestive and urinary systems.

Feifei received anoplasty surgery in Xinjiang after his birth as he could not defecate. However, the hospital could not handle other deformity problems and he was brought to Shanghai for further treatment.

During the surgery in Shanghai, doctors removed the extra leg and adjusted his reproductive organs. Since the foot on the extra leg had developed better, doctors transplanted the extra foot on to the right leg.

Feifei is said to be in stable condition and can leave the hospital in about two weeks. Doctors said the right leg patella of the young patient was still missing.

“His right foot will function properly after the transplant, but he might still need surgery to lengthen and straighten the right leg at the age of 3,” Chen said.