Brazil’s Bolsonaro discharged from hospital after gut blockage cleared

Jair Bolsonaro has undergone several surgeries since being stabbed during a campaign event in 2018

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro seen next to his team of doctors during a press conference at the Vila Nova Star Hospital after he was discharged, in Sao Paulo, Brazil (AFP via Getty Images)

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from hospital on Wednesday, two days after being admitted with an intestinal obstruction, his latest health complication from a 2018 stabbing.

“Being discharged now. Thank you all,” the far-right Brazilian leader posted on Twitter alongside a religious message and a photo of himself and his doctors giving a thumbs-up gesture.

Mr Bolsonaro’s doctor, Antonio Macedo, told reporters the president is recovered and ready to work, adding that he will be on a special diet during the weekend and will not be able to perform vigorous physical activities.

Mr Bolsonaro, who has been in power since 2019 and plans to stand for re-election in a presidential vote scheduled for October, said he will maintain his regular agenda, including a trip to Russia in February.

He was vacationing in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina when he was urgently taken to Sao Paulo’s Vila Nova Star hospital in the early hours of Monday after suffering from abdominal pain.

Doctors inserted a nasogastric tube and even considered surgery, but the obstruction was cleared on Tuesday.

A medical bulletin issued on Tuesday evening said the president’s digestive tract was showing signs of recovery, that he was doing well on a liquid diet and that doctors had removed the nasogastric tube.

Mr Bolsonaro has undergone a series of emergency surgeries since being knifed during a campaign event in September 2018.

He said on Twitter on Monday that he had started feeling unwell on Sunday after lunch, noting it was his second hospitalisation “with the same symptoms” in a few months. In July 2021, he was taken to the Vila Nova Star facility for an intestinal blockage after suffering chronic hiccups.

Dr Macedo acknowledged that Mr Bolsonaro could experience a new gut obstruction in the future.

Reuters