Pope Francis will undergo surgery for an abdominal hernia

He pope Francis left the Vatican this Wednesday around 11:00 a.m. local time (09:00 GMT) to go to Gemelli Hospital in Romewhere in the afternoon he will be operated on under general anesthesia with a laparotomy in the abdominal wall due to a pinched incisional hernia.

FranciscoThe 86-year-old went to the hospital in his usual vehicle, a white Fiat 500L, and, according to the Vatican, will have to stay in hospital for several days to recover.

“At the end of the general audience, the Pope will go to University Hospitalwhere in the early afternoon hours under general anesthesia he will undergo a laparotomy and plastic surgery of the abdominal wall with a prosthesis”, says the press release of the Holy See.

Vatican He explained that “the operation, organized in recent days by the medical team assisting the Pope, became necessary due to a pinched incisional hernia that causes recurring, painful subocclusive syndromes that worsen.”

The operation is considered urgent following the results of a CT scan he underwent this Tuesday, and comes after colon surgery in July 2021.

In a recent interview with the American news agency AP, Francisco he discovered that he was again suffering from diverticula, a problem for which he had to undergo surgery and remove a small part of his colon, but that he was in good health.

Francis underwent surgery in this Roman hospital on July 4, 2021 and was discharged after 10 days, followed by a slow recovery.

This is the third time the Pope has been admitted to a Roman hospital, as he spent three nights at Gemelli Hospital at the end of March. “acute pneumonia”.

The pope also suffers from a problem in his right knee that requires him to walk with the help of a cane or a wheelchair, and has assured on several occasions that he does not want to undergo surgery.