He Pope Francisco underwent surgery this Wednesday in a hospital in Rome to repair a abdominal hernia probably caused by scars from another intervention in 2021. This is the second surgical operation the 86-year-old pope has undergone in less than two years. The surgery is over no complications after three hours in the operating room, according to Vatican sources.
Francis gave no sign during his general audience on Wednesday that he was about to be admitted to the hospital. On the contrary, in the square of San Pedro it was shown in good mood, stopped to kiss babies and chatted with newlyweds. Shortly after, the pontiff left the Vatican in a simple Fiat 500L white to go to the catholic hospital Gemellilocated a short drive away and has a suite room on the tenth floor reserved for the popes.
Surgery will keep the pope several days admitted. A communiqué from the Holy See declared this afternoon that his “hospitalization in the medical institution will last several days to allow a postoperative recovery normal and full functional recovery.
The Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where Pope Francis undergoes abdominal surgery on Wednesday.
In addition, a Vatican source has said that all the private and general audiences of the pope have been canceled until June 18. However, during his stay at Gemelli in 2021, Francis recited the traditional Sunday prayer from a hospital balcony.
The operation was necessary to repair a laparocele, a hernia that sometimes forms over a scar, usually as a result of a previous operation. It is more frequent in old people and it can also be caused by obesity or weakness of the abdominal wall muscles.
[Obstrucción intestinal: así es el peligroso trastorno por el que el papa Francisco será operado]
The pope’s medical team decided in recent days that surgical intervention was necessary because the condition was causing painful intestinal occlusions. Francisco is known to fear the negative effects of general anesthesia, which are also more common in older people.
The statement said that the Pope would undergo a laparotomy, or open abdominal surgery, and that a prosthesis would be used to reconstruct the abdominal wall. In July 2021, part of his colon was removed in an operation to treat a painful intestinal disease called diverticulitis. Earlier this year she stated that the ailment had reappeared and it was affecting her weight.
[Cuántas veces han operado al papa Francisco: de sus problemas de pulmón a su enfermedad en el colon]
Francis spent about 40 minutes in the same Roman hospital on Tuesday for what the Vatican said was a “check”without disclosing then that it was, in fact, a visit prior to the operation.
Last March, the Pope was treated for five days in the same hospital for a lung infectionand in May he missed hearings for a day due to the fever.
[El papa Francisco, hospitalizado de urgencia: será operado por riesgo de obstrucción intestinal]
The pontiff often uses a wheelchair or a cane to walk due to a persistent knee pain. Last year he did not want to have a knee operation because the general anesthesia from the colon operation had caused unpleasant side effects.
Despite his health problems, Francisco maintains a busy schedule. On Saturday, the Vatican announced that from August 31 to September 4 it will visit Mongoliaone of the most remote places you will ever travel to.
? The director of the @HolySeePressMatteo Bruni, has informed that as a precaution all the hearings of the #Pope Francisco until June 18.
— Vatican News (@vaticannews_es) June 7, 2023
Before that, he will visit Portugal from August 2 to 6 to attend the World Youth Day in Lisbon and visit the Fatima Sanctuary. The Vatican released the official program of the trip on Tuesday, hinting that it was confirmed.
