The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro. Photo source: Fotoarena / ddp USA / Profimedia
Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro underwent a “phrenic nerve block procedure” on Saturday to treat persistent hiccups, his wife announced on social media.
“My love has just entered the operating room to undergo a phrenic nerve block,” wrote the former president's wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, who is accompanying him to the hospital, on Instagram on Saturday.
“Nine months of struggle and anxiety have already passed, with daily hiccups,” lamented the former first lady, according to News.ro.
The former president (2019-2022) is suffering from an abdominal wound caused by a stabbing during a campaign meeting in 2018, which required several major surgeries.
“The hiccups are a symptom that worries him a lot, because they tire him enormously and disturb his sleep (…)”, said the same day Dr. Brasil Caiado, who takes care of the former president during his hospitalization in Brasilia.
Bolsonaro, 70, was hospitalized on Wednesday for a separate hernia operation, which took place the next day without incident.
At the request of his lawyers, he received approval from Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes to leave prison, where he is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup d'état.
In a statement made from the hospital, Bolsonaro expressed his support for the candidacy of his son Flavio in the 2026 presidential elections.
