Lula must undergo a new procedure to block blood flow to the brain
The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) must undergo a new procedure to stop the blood flow to a region of his brain and prevent further bleeding. The information was initially published by journalist Mônica Bergamo, columnist for Folha de S.Paulo.
The procedure is scheduled for Thursday (12). Lula remains hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Hospital Sírio-Libanês, in São Paulo (SP), and is progressing well.
The President of the Republic will undergo an embolization of the meningeal arteries – which irrigate the meninges, membranes that cover the central nervous system.
ACCESS NOW
The technique interrupts the flow of blood to the desired location using a catheter, obstructing the artery and blocking blood flow.
As a result, according to the medical team treating the president, the expectation is that no further bleeding will occur, which reduces the risk for Lula.
Lula is lucid, oriented and progressing well, says new medical bulletin from Sírio-Libanês
The President of the Republic remains admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), recovering after surgery that drained an intracranial hemorrhage
Sírio-Libanês publishes bulletin update
According to the medical bulletin released early this Wednesday afternoon (11), the President of the Republic remains admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), recovering after surgery that drained an intracranial hemorrhage. The procedure was successful.
The medical bulletin informs that Lula “still has a drain, pending further routine examinations”.
After the announcement of the new procedure that Lula will undergo this Thursday, Sírio-Libanês released an update to the medical report, confirming this information.
Read the full statement from Lula’s medical team:
“President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva remains under intensive care at Hospital Sírio-Libanês, in São Paulo.
He spent the day well, without complications, underwent physiotherapy, walked and received visits from family.
As part of the therapeutic program, he will complete the surgery with an endovascular procedure (embolization of the middle meningeal artery) tomorrow morning.
Further updates will be given during a press conference to be held tomorrow at 10 am.
The President remains under the supervision of the medical team, under the care of Prof. Dr. Roberto Kalil Filho and Dr. Ana Helena Germoglio.“
Earlier, late this Wednesday morning, the cardiologist Roberto KalilLula’s doctor, had already told journalists that the president was fine. Lula, who is accompanied only by the first lady, Rosângela Lula da Silva, known as Janja, is still unable to receive visitors.
There is still no official discharge forecast, but the expectation of the medical team, if the president continues to progress well, is that Lula will remain in the ICU for around 48 hours and return to Brasília (DF) at the beginning of next week.
Lula’s medical team allows family visits
Earlier, cardiologist Roberto Kalil, upon arriving at the Sírio-Libanês Hospital, where Lula is hospitalized, had said that visits would not be allowed during his stay in the ICU
The surgery
According to doctors, Lula underwent a procedure called “trepanation” to drain an intracranial hematoma resulting from a fall he suffered in October, after being taken to hospital complaining of severe headaches.
On October 19, the PT member suffered a fall in the bathroom of the Palácio da Alvorada, in Brasília (DF). From then on, it took 52 days until Lula had to undergo surgery to drain the hematoma.
Lula fell in the bathroom of the Palácio da Alvorada, the official residence of the Presidency. According to Lula’s own account, he was sitting on a small bench, to cut his toenails, when he lost his balance, fell and hit his head on a corner – which caused a lot of bleeding in the area.
The accident occurred on a Saturday night, when Lula and Janja were preparing for an official trip to Russia – they had just returned from commitments in São Paulo.
Quaest: Lula’s approval fluctuates to 52% after announcement of tax measures
The December result represents a positive fluctuation of 1 percentage point in the approval of Lula’s work in relation to the previous round of Genial/Quaest, in October
Headaches
Throughout last Monday (9), Lula complained of headaches, and the symptoms worsened at night. He was then taken to the Sírio-Libanês Hospital in Brasília, where he underwent a series of tests. Soon afterwards, when the need for emergency surgery was detected, Lula was transferred to the hospital unit in São Paulo (SP).
After undergoing emergency surgery to drain the hematoma in his brain, Lula was taken to the ICU, where he remains under observation.
Read also: From falling in the bathroom to surgery and ICU: see what happened to Lula after the accident
The surgery consisted of drilling the skull with small holes from which drains are introduced – a procedure considered common in neurosurgery and which, according to the medical team, does not involve major violation of the skull and normally has a spontaneous healing process.
Initially, the medical team itself had informed, in a bulletin, that Lula underwent a craniotomy. The two procedures are similar, but the latter involves larger openings of the skull — therefore, it is more invasive.
At a press conference, doctor Roberto Kalil Filho, head of the team responsible for the procedure, said that the bleeding was confirmed in the MRI performed in Brasília.
