Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is scheduled to undergo an additional medical procedure on Thursday (Dec 12) to complement the surgery he underwent earlier this week to "minimize the risk of future bleeding".

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The president's doctor Roberto Kalil on Wednesday said that the new operation was an "expected" follow-up to the surgery that was carried out on Tuesday (Dec 10).

He said that the procedure, which is estimated to last for about an hour, is "relatively simple and low-risk" and would involve inserting a catheter in Lula's femoral artery.

The Hospital Sirio-Libanes said in a medical bulletin, "As part of his treatment, complementary to the surgery, an endovascular procedure (embolization of the middle meningeal artery) will be carried out tomorrow morning."

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It said that otherwise, Lula was keeping well.

On Wednesday, it said, he "carried out physiotherapy, walked and received family visits" and that Lula was alert and had "progressed well" since the surgery, "without incident".

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva underwent emergency surgery for a brain haemorrhage on Tuesday caused by a recent fall. 

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"The operation went without complications" on Monday (Dec 9) night, and Lula was "doing well, under monitoring" in an intensive care unit, the hospital had released a statement saying.

Lula's brain haemorrhage was linked to a fall he suffered on October 19 at the presidential residence in Brasilia. He had hit his head in the bathroom and received several stitches for the injury. 

Also read: Brazilian President Lula undergoes surgery for brain haemorrhage

He was admitted to the hospital's branch in Brasilia on Monday "to undergo an imaging exam after experiencing a headache", said the hospital.

Intracranial haemorrhage was reportedly detected during the examination.

He was then "transferred to the Sao Paulo unit of the Syrian-Lebanese hospital, where he underwent a craniotomy to drain the hematoma."

Lula was advised by the doctors to cancel his trip to Russia for the BRICS summit after the fall he had in the bathroom, so he joined the meeting online via video conferencing.

He also skipped the United Nations COP29 climate summit in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

Lula had described his October 19 accident as "serious" during a phone call with a Workers' Party official, which was later shared on social media.

"I am fine, I had an accident, but it was my fault. It was serious but it did not affect any sensitive area," the Brazilian president said in the call.

"I'm taking care of myself... The doctors said I had to wait at least three or four days to find out how much damage the blow had done," Lula said.

(With inputs from agencies)