Pope Francis, 86, will undergo emergency surgery under general anesthesia Wednesday afternoon in Rome for risk of intestinal obstruction, the Vatican announced.
The surgical intervention is "necessary" because of the worsening of the symptoms presented by the Supreme Pontiff, his medical team said, and will require "several days" of hospitalization, the director of the Holy See press service, Matteo Bruni, said in a statement.
The Argentine pope presided over the general audience in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday morning, before thousands of faithful.
"At the end of the general audience, the Holy Father went to the A. Gemelli University Hospital where, at the beginning of the afternoon, he will undergo a surgical operation of laparotomy and plastic surgery of the abdominal wall with prosthesis, under general anesthesia," Bruni explained.
Laparotomy is an intervention consisting of opening the abdomen.
"The operation, prepared in recent days by the medical team assisting the Holy Father, has become necessary because of an incisional hernia that causes recurrent, painful and worsening subocclusive syndromes," Bruni added.
On Tuesday morning, the pope had to stop by the Gemelli hospital to undergo "examinations," but the Vatican did not detail the nature of the tests.
In July 2021, the bishop of Rome had to be hospitalized for about ten days in that same hospital to undergo a colon operation. He said he suffered "sequelae" from the anesthesia.
And at the end of March, Francis, elected pope in 2013, had to be admitted again to the Gemmeli hospital for a respiratory infection.
With information from agencies
AFP 070911 GMT JUN 23
