Pope Francis underwent surgery this Wednesday afternoon at the A. Gemelli University Polyclinic Hospital in Rome. The controls carried out the day before had warned of a possible intestinal obstruction, which had been causing him pain and a significant deterioration for days, as the Vatican press office announced for tomorrow. In reality it was some kind of hernia caused by the scar from the operation in July last year and it didn’t heal well. The procedure was successfully performed and the pontiff is already resting in the stay he reserved at the Roman medical center. It is the third time in less than a year that the pope has had to be hospitalized for several days with a relatively serious illness. This time, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household has canceled Francisco’s agenda until June 18.
Francisco had gone to the same hospital without prior notice on Tuesday. According to the Vatican, it was a planned check (this is also what the Holy See said when he had to be hospitalized urgently because of a respiratory infection). But this morning, at the end of Wednesday’s general audience, he was taken back to the hospital. “The Holy Father went to the Polyclinic of A. Gemelli University, where in the afternoon he will undergo a laparotomy operation under general anesthesia and reconstruction of the abdominal wall with a prosthesis. “The operation, agreed upon by the medical team supporting the Holy Father in the past few days, became necessary due to an imprisoned eventration that is causing recurrent and painful subocclusive syndromes that are worsening,” the statement said.
The operation, classified as urgent according to the results of the CT scan he underwent the day before, is the consequence of a hernia that the pontiff could suffer due to poor healing after the last operation. “Hospitalization at the medical facility will last several days to allow for normal postoperative recovery and full functional recovery,” the statement said. In order to remove the hernia and allow the scar to heal again, the doctors now had to insert a tissue prosthesis in the Pope’s abdomen.
The Pope underwent surgery at the same center in July 2021 for diverticular stenosis in the colon, a surgical procedure that was also previously scheduled. On that occasion, he was hospitalized for 11 days and part of his colon was removed, an operation for which he required general anesthesia. In a recent interview with the US news agency Associated Press, Francisco revealed that he was suffering from diverticula again, which is why he had to have surgery, but that he was fine.
Francisco also suffers from a problem in his right knee that forces him to use a cane or a wheelchair and has repeatedly stated that he does not wish to have surgery, largely because he refused general anesthesia.
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