HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A 21-month-old Honduran girl is recovering after surgery to remove a third leg caused by a rare congenital abnormality in which a partially formed twin was attached to her.
Tania Trochez was in good condition Monday at The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where the 16-hour operation was performed last week."She's happy-go-lucky, she's feisty, she can hold her own with my grandchildren," said Margaret Long, a nurse who helped bring her to America and cared for her in her home for the last four months.
The 20-pound, brown-eyed girl was born with a third extremity located between a completely normal right leg and a small, nearly normal left leg. The extra leg, which bended so that it rested on her stomach, contained two shinbones and a double foot that was fused together, doctors said.
A surgical team of 11 doctors removed the extremity and reconstructed one of the two bladder outlets. They also created a bowel outlet and reshaped her buttocks.
"She's got more work that needs to be done, but this is the major part," said Dr. Edwards P. Schwentker. The pediatric orthopedic surgeon was the first to examine the girl while on a medical mission to Honduras on behalf of a Christian organization.
An unknown Honduran doctor in her hometown of San Pedro Sula performed a colostomy immediately after the girl's birth in February 1998, giving her a chance at survival.
But the local government hospital could do nothing for her condition.
The girl is expected to need additional surgery that will include normalizing bladder and bowel functions, replacing her dislocated hip and correcting a club left foot.