Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro undergoes surgery, a year after knife attack

Share

Tweet

Share

Share

Email

Comments

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.