Surgeons have successfully separated conjoined Bhutanese twins Nima and Dawa, after a marathon effort involving an 18-strong medical team.

Speaking at the Royal Children’s Hospital on Friday afternoon, the head of paediatric surgery Dr Joe Crameri said the operation had taken about six hours and the girls had been taken to recovery where they were doing well.

Conjoined twins Nima and Dawa before their surgery. Credit:AAP

‘‘Through this journey we learnt Bhutan is certainly the land of happiness. But I’m very pleased to report today it is not the land of surprises. We are here earlier because there was nothing inside the tummies we weren’t really prepared for,’’ Dr Crameri said.

He said they were able to separate the girls' liver without any major bleeding and they found there was also no significant bowel attachments.