Brazil’s president ‘well’ after brain bleed surgery
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is "well" after brain surgery, the government says.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is "well" after brain surgery, the government says. Photo: AAP
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is said to be doing well after being rushed to hospital for emergency brain surgery.
Lula was taken to hospital in Sao Paulo for surgery to drain a bleed on his brain linked to a fall in October, a medical note published by the government said.
The operation was successful and the 79-year-old was “well” and being monitored in intensive care, said the note released on Tuesday (local time).
Later on Tuesday, Lula’s doctors said he was in a stable condition and was conscious. Lula was “lucid” and conversing with medical staff, they said.
The doctors insisted he had sustained no brain injury and was not experiencing and after-effects from the surgery.
Asked when he would return to the capital, doctors said that if everything went well, they expected him back in Brasilia “next week”.
Earlier, presidential spokesman Paulo Pimenta had said that Lula would likely remain in ICU for another 48 hours.
“He is stable, conscious and calm,” Pimenta said.
There have been increasing health concerns about the ageing president, a standard bearer of the Latin American left who is halfway through his third non-consecutive term.
Lula has curtailed travel in recent months while doctors monitored his recovery from trauma to the back of his head from the fall in October, which required stitches.
During talks with congressional leaders on Monday night, Lula complained of a worsening headache and ended the meeting so he could go to a hospital in Brasilia, according to a source in the presidential office who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Lula had an MRI scan, which detected an intracranial haemorrhage. He was transferred to Sao Paulo for surgery at the Sirio Libanes Hospital.
Tests in early November, after his fall, showed Lula’s condition was stable. He remained active, recently travelling to Montevideo to discuss a Mercosur trade deal.
However, his injury forced him to cancel a trip to Russia for a summit of the BRICS group of major emerging markets being held in Kazan, following medical advice to temporarily avoid long-haul flights.
Brazil’s Labor Minister Luiz Marinho was among the first politicians to wish Lula a swift and full recovery on social media platform X.
-with AAP
Topics:Brazil,Health