Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro underwent surgery on Sunday to repair an abdominal hernia, his fourth operation since being stabbed in the stomach a year ago at a campaign rally, his doctors said.
The operation at Sao Paulo’s Vila Nova Star hospital lasted more than five hours, the medical center reported in a statement signed by his surgeon, Antonio Luiz Macedo.
“The procedure was a success,” Macedo’s statement said, adding that the president was recovering and in stable condition.
He said a significant part of Bolsonaro’s intestine had to be removed after it had become strongly attached to the abdominal wall. Doctors used a mesh implant to strengthen muscle tissue, Macedo added.
He said about 10 percent of patients who undergo such abdominal surgery develop a hernia, but that while there was a chance of a new hernia, it was unlikely.
Bolsonaro is expected to spend five days in hospital and should be able to travel by plane after a week, Macedo said.
Vice President Hamilton Mourao temporarily assumed the powers of the presidency on Sunday and will remain in office at least until Thursday, a presidential spokesman said.
Bolsonaro was stabbed on September 6, 2018 at a campaign rally in the state of Minas Gerais by a 41-year-old man, who was found to be delusional and psychologically unfit for trial.
The assailant, Adelio Bispo de Oliveira, is being held in the psychiatric unit of a maximum security prison.
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