Conjoined Bhutanese twins Nima and Dawa have entered the operating theatre to undergo life-changing separation surgery in Melbourne.
A team of 18 surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists at the Royal Children's Hospital will work for more than six hours to separate the 15-month-old girls, who are joined at the torso and share a liver.
Head of paediatric surgery Dr Joe Crameri, who is leading the team, says the delicate procedure could go into the night.
"We keep making guesses as to how long this will take, but the reality is until the operation starts and ultimately we get to see what is connecting the girls, we won't really know how long," he told reporters on Friday.
"It is unlikely that we will have completed the whole procedure by 4pm this afternoon."
Dr Crameri is optimistic but expects some challenges to arise, as it is unclear what parts of the girls are connected.
"I feel quietly confident that we are going to find something we can deal with in a very straight forward manner, that's what I'm hoping," he said.
Bhumchu Zangmo with her conjoined twins Nima and Dawa. Source: AAP
"But there are challenges with these types of operations and I think we've got the team around us to deal with those."
Among Dr Crameri's concerns is the possibility the sisters share a bowel.
"We know the bowel is mixed and it could be entirely separate and sitting next to one another or it also can be that the girls share the bowel and we have to find a way of dividing that," he said.
"The one benefit we all have is we are all born with a lot of bowel and you can afford to decrease that."
He is also concerned about putting the girls under anaesthetic.
"One of the complexities is that you really don't know what you do to one twin, how it affects the other," Dr Crameri added.
The operation had previously been postponed after last-minute checks revealed the sisters were not ready.
The sisters were brought to Australia with their mother Bhumchu Zangmo in October.
The separation surgery for conjoined twins Nima and Dawa will go ahead today at Royal Children's Hospital. Source: AAP
Dr Crameri said Ms Zangmo was excited and anxious the surgery was finally moving forward, with a view to eventually going home.
"I suspect deep down she is anxious, but she doesn't express that in an open way."
The procedure and recovery are expected to cost at least $350,000 and the state government has offered to pay the bill.
Other funds raised will go towards their rehabilitation and return home.
