Brazil’s former president Bolsonaro has surgery to treat hiccups, wife says
Bolsonaro, 70, had been hospitalised on Wednesday for hernia surgery. In September, he was jailed for 27 years for plotting a coup
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro underwent “a phrenic nerve block procedure” on Saturday to treat his persistent hiccups, his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, said on social media.
In medical literature, the phrenic nerve is described as a vital nerve originating in the neck that controls the diaphragm, the primary muscle for breathing.
At the request of his defence lawyers, he was authorised by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to leave prison for the surgery.
In a statement issued while he was in hospital, Bolsonaro endorsed the 2026 presidential bid of his son, Flavio Bolsonaro.
The former president has faced health problems since a stabbing he suffered in September 2018, during a presidential campaign event in the town of Juiz de Fora, in Minas Gerais state.