Pope’s three-hour hernia surgery successful, spends night in hospital

Pope Francis, 86, surgery to remove a painful hernia was successful, the Vatican revealed through a statement on Thursday.

The operation took place at Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Wednesday and according to doctors, it was successful enough that he should have no limitations on his travels and other activities after recovery.

The Vatican explained that the operation was necessary to repair a laparocele, a hernia that sometimes forms over a scar and usually results from previous surgery.

It is said to be more common in older people and can also be caused by obesity or weakness of the abdominal wall muscles.

According to the Vatican press office, the Pope is expected to have a good first night in the hospital after the three-hour operation, adding, “The night went well.”

The Argentine pontiff was said to have been awake and joking with his medical team Wednesday after the abdominal operation at the Gemelli hospital.

The pope, who underwent colon surgery in 2021, had been suffering from an incisional hernia on the site of a scar from previous surgery, doctor Sergio Alfieri revealed.

He was placed under general anaesthesia and the abdominal wall was repaired with a surgical mesh, he said.

Alfieri, who operated on him, pointed out that this sort of operation usually requires a stay of between five and seven days, but the pope’s age and illness in March — when he was hospitalised with a respiratory infection — may affect his recovery time.
Alfieri further said no other ailments or pathologies were discovered during the operation and that he reacted well to general anaesthesia.

He cautioned that while strong, the pope was elderly and recently had bronchitis so “we will take all necessary precautions” regarding the timing of the hospital stay.

So far, all papal audiences have been cancelled until June 18, to give the pontiff time to recover.

Francis has two trips planned for this summer and Alfieri said he saw no medical reason why the pope would have to change his schedule.

His only caution to the pope was that he should not lift any heavy objects.

“He looked at me as if to say ‘I’m the pope. I don’t lift weights,’” Alfieri said.

Francis was taken to the hospital after his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, where he gave no sign that he was about to enter the hospital for a planned surgery.

Francis, who has been the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics for a decade, has suffered increasing health issues over the past year and his hospital stays have sparked concern and fuelled speculation over his future as pontiff.

It is the third hospital stay since the Argentinean was chosen in 2013 by the cardinals as the first Latin American pope.

Francis underwent a laparotomy, or open abdominal surgery, and a prosthesis was used to reconstruct the abdominal wall.

In July 2021 he had part of his colon removed in an operation aimed at addressing a painful bowel condition called diverticulitis. He said earlier this year that the condition had returned and was affecting his weight.

Francis was treated for five days at the same hospital at the end of March with a lung infection and last month skipped audiences for a day due to a fever.

The pope often uses a wheelchair or a cane to walk because of persistent knee pain.

Last year he did not want to have an operation on his knee because the general anaesthesia for his colon surgery had brought disagreeable side effects.

Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, who died in December, stepped down in 2013 due to failing health.

AFP