President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil underwent an emergency craniotomy in the early morning hours of Tuesday to drain an intracranial hemorrhage resulting from an injury he suffered in a bathroom accident in October.
According to statements from Lula’s medical team, the Brazilian president is stable and will remain under monitoring in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Sírio-Libanês Hospital in the city of São Paulo.
Brazilian media reported that Lula, 79, experienced headaches in recent days and was admitted to the Sírio-Libanês Hospital in Brasilia on Monday evening, where imaging tests revealed “bleeding between the brain and the meningeal membrane.” Lula was then transferred to the Sírio-Libanês Hospital in São Paulo, where he underwent the emergency procedure.
CNN Brasil reported on Tuesday morning that Lula had been unwell since the previous morning and “despite being lucid and oriented, he was feeling sleepy and unwell, but he continued to keep his appointments,” according to an unnamed source.
The Brazilian government released a statement on Tuesday stating that the craniotomy Lula underwent was “uneventful” and that Lula remains well and under monitoring by his medical team.
Lula’s medical team held a press conference on Tuesday morning in which Dr. Roberto Kalil, who tended to the Brazilian president, stated that Lula is “fine, talks and eats normally and will not suffer any after-effects,” and pointing out that “his neurological functions are preserved.”
“The president is progressing well; he arrived from surgery practically awake, was extubated and is now stable, talking normally, eating and will remain under observation for the next few days,” Kalil said.
According to the doctor, Lula is expected to return to Brasilia early next week and is prohibited from receiving work visitors at the hospital until he is fully recovered. The president’s medical team told CNN Brasil after the press conference that Lula is expected to remain in São Paulo, with no return date set at press time.
Kalil further explained that the hematoma was approximately three centimeters in size and did not touch the brain. Kalil asserted that it is “very unlikely” that Lula will experience another bleeding episode of that nature, and claimed the president “is stable, talking normally and eating.”
Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin reportedly cancelled his schedule in São Paulo and returned to Brasília to take over some of Lula’s workload, including an upcoming meeting with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is presently conducting an official visit to Brazil.
The emergency craniotomy took place almost two months after Lula suffered a head injury in a bathroom accident on Saturday, October 19, that required urgent medical attention at the Sírio-Libanês Hospital.
Lula received five stitches at the time and was advised by Kalil and the other members of his medical team to avoid long-distance air travel. As a result, Lula cancelled his trip to Kazan, Russia, to participate in the annual meeting of the anti-U.S. BRICS bloc. The accident occurred hours before the scheduled trip. Lula participated in the event through a videoconference instead.
Officials from Venezuela’s socialist regime claimed at the time that Lula’s bathroom accident was “fake” and an elaborate “alibi” to avoid attending the event, part of an alleged plot to snub Venezuela out of a long-coveted BRICS partnership spot. Brazilian government officials explained at the time that their decision to oppose longtime ally Venezuela’s entry into the group was due to a “breach of trust” following socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s fraudulent July 28 sham presidential election.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
