Brazil's Lula 'in perfect neurological condition' post-op, says medical staff

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is "in perfect neurological condition" after surgery to relieve bleeding pressure on his brain and should be leaving intensive care on Friday, his medical team said.

A follow-up operation on Thursday to block blood flow to the affected area was a "success," Lula's doctor, Roberto Kalil, told a press conference at the Hospital Sirio-Libanes, where the 79-year-old president is being treated.

"He is doing very well," neurosurgeon Marcos Stavale said.

The update came two days after the emergency surgery to drill through Lula's skull to relieve pressure built up in protective intracranial membranes. 

The injury was linked to a blow to the head Lula suffered in October, when he fell in a bathroom in his presidential residence.

Lula's doctors stressed on Thursday that he was doing physically and mentally well, was awake and talking, and should be soon returning to his duties.

"If everything continues as it is, at the beginning of next week the president should be discharged" from the São Paulo hospital, and "he will gradually resume his normal activity," Kalil said.

He added that, while Lula would be able to work, his convalescence would still require "relative rest over several weeks."

The president's "neurological examination is normal, he is very well," though "he should not exert himself physically or mentally," neurologist Rogerio Tuma added.

Fall was 'serious'

Early Thursday, doctors inserted a catheter in Lula's femoral artery to block blood flow going through the middle meningeal artery in his head, to minimise the risk of a haemorrhage reoccurring.

Kalil described the procedure as "routine" and "minimally invasive," carried out under sedation rather than anaesthesia.

The doctor said there were no signs of any complications, and the longer that lasted, the better for Lula's prognosis.

"Every week, every month plays in favor of a patient who has had a brain haemorrhage," he said.

A medical drain inserted Tuesday for the haemorrhage was removed later Thursday without incident, the hospital said in a public update.

It added that Lula remained "lucid and engaged" and was receiving visits from family members.

The Brazilian president's medical emergency this week started when he complained Monday of a headache while in Brasília. 

An MRI scan found a haemorrhage between his brain and the dura mater membrane that protects it.

He was rushed to the Hospital Sirio-Libanes – the country's top medical facility – where doctors carried out a trepanation, involving drilling through his skull to relieve pressure.

After suffering his fall on October 19, Lula told an official from his Workers' Party (PT) that the accident had been "serious."

In the weeks following, the president skipped planned overseas trips. But from mid-November he resumed his active schedule, hosting a G20 summit in Rio and attending a Mercosur summit last week in Uruguay.

Brazilian Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin has taken over some of Lula's workload in his absence, but the presidency has not officially tapped him to assume the full duties during the president's convalescence.

The Brazilian minister for institutional relations, Alexandre Padilha, said that Lula "is continually exercising his activity as president," adding that the leader was signing documents electronically.

Lula took up his current mandate in January 2023 after beating the previous, far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, in a tightly fought 2022 election.

His latest medical emergency adds to a list of health problems he has suffered over the years, including treatment in 2011 for throat cancer, and a hip replacement operation last year.

– TIMES/AFP