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La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, December 12, 2024, p. 23
Sao Paulo. The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 79, must undergo a new operation on his head today to minimize the risk of future bleedingtwo days after having undergone surgery for an intracranial hematoma, his medical team reported yesterday.
Lula was transferred on Monday night from Brasilia to the Syrian Lebanese Hospital in Sao Paulo after experiencing headaches. The doctors found that he had a intracranial hemorrhageas a result of a fall he suffered almost two months ago, and they decided to perform emergency surgery early Tuesday morning.
As part of the therapeutic program, the president will complement surgery with an endovascular procedure this morning, the São Paulo hospital detailed.
Dr. Roberto Kalil, Lula’s doctor, told journalists that the procedure, relatively simple and of low risk lasts about an hour.
Kalil stated that the procedure is within the protocol and it was decided yesterday, although it was already provided as a possibility since he finished surgery on Tuesday.
The doctors said that the president He spent the day well, without complications, he did physical therapy, walked and received visits from family while he remains in intensive care.
The hospital indicated in another statement that Lula “is lucid, oriented and progressed well in the immediate postoperative period. The leftist ruler remains with drainage while awaiting further routine examinations.
According to the medical team, this is a common complication after a blow like the one he suffered, mainly in older people.
The doctors’ estimate is that Lula will remain hospitalized until next week.
Family visits have been allowed in the hospital since yesterday, a government spokesperson said.
On October 19, Lula fell in the bathroom of the official residence and hit his head. He received stitches and regular evaluations for several weeks.
As a result of the domestic accident, he had to cancel several trips abroad, including to Russia, where he would participate in the BRICS summit.
However, he maintained his commitments in the country, and on November 18 and 19 he hosted the G-20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The sudden operation forced agenda changes.
Lula was due to receive the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, last Tuesday in Brasilia, who instead met with Vice President Geraldo Alckmin.
The Brazilian Constitution provides that the vice president can temporarily assume the functions of the head of state.
But the Minister of Communication, Paulo Pimenta, clarified that in principle It is not being considered to formally remove the president from his duties.
