MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula goes through head surgery to ease pain

The problem stemmed from his domestic accident at the Alvorada Palace back in October

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Monday underwent head surgery to drain a hematoma and relieve his persistent headache. He was said to be in good condition and recuperating at Sao Paulo's Hospital Sírio-Libanês' ICU ward. The procedure involved a craniotomy (a cut through the skull), it was also explained.

Lula had gone to a medical facility in Brasilia for a checkup “after feeling a headache”. An MRI showed an intracranial hemorrhage “due to the home accident suffered” in October. Then he was flown to São Paulo, “where he underwent craniotomy for hematoma drainage,” where “the surgery was performed without complications.” Lula is under the care of the medical team led by Roberto Kalil Filho and Ana Helena Germoglio.

The president suffered a fall in the bathroom of the Alvorada Palace on Oct. 19, which resulted in a “short-contuse injury in the occipital region” for which he was treated back then.

Since returning to the Planalto Pàlace for his third term, in Jan. 2023, Lula had a chest procedure in February that year, and the following month he canceled a trip to China due to bronchopneumonia caused by the influenza A virus.

In September, he underwent leg surgery due to arthritis and had plastic surgery the same day to remove excess skin in his eyelids, which, according to Doctor Kalil, affected his eyesight. Lula was discharged from the hospital 2 days earlier than expected but was subsequently confined for 3 weeks at the Alvorada Palace to avoid infections and to dedicate himself to physiotherapy.

A medical report issued late Monday by Doctors Luiz Francisco Cardoso and Álvaro Sarkis said that the president was operated at Sírio-Libanês in São Paulo for the drainage of the hematoma. According to the hospital, the surgery was successful and Lula is recovering in the ICU. A press conference was scheduled for Tuesday morning.