Brazil's Bolsonaro hospitalized with obstructed gut, may need surgery

Reuters

Published Jan 03, 2022 05:44AM ET

Updated Jan 03, 2022 06:36PM ET

By Gabriel Araujo and Lisandra Paraguassu

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was hospitalized on Monday with an intestinal blockage and may need to undergo surgery in the latest complication from a 2018 stabbing.

Bolsonaro said he started feeling unwell on Sunday afternoon after lunch and doctors have inserted a nasogastric tube. Medical officials described his condition as stable and improving.

"More tests will be conducted for a potential surgery on an internal obstruction in the abdominal region," Bolsonaro posted on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR), along with a photo of himself giving a thumbs-up in his hospital bed.

Bolsonaro said it was the second hospitalization "with the same symptoms" since he was stabbed https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-election-bolsonaro-idUSKCN1LM2YJ during a September 2018 campaign event and underwent a series of emergency operations.

Vila Nova Star hospital confirmed in a medical note that Bolsonaro was admitted to the hospital in the early hours of Monday with an intestinal blockage.

"He is in stable condition, undergoing treatment," it said. "At the moment, there is no forecast for him being discharged."

In a separate statement in the evening, Vila Nova Star said that Bolsonaro was improving and that he had taken a brief walk in a hallway. The hospital added that he was not suffering from fever-like symptoms or abdominal pain, but that it was not yet clear if he would need surgery.

TV network Globo showed images of Bolsonaro, who had been vacationing in the southern state of Santa Catarina, walking down the stairs of the presidential plane after landing in Sao Paulo around 1:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT).