Brazil’s Lula leaves hospital after hip surgery

FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a meeting at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil on September 22, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

BRASILIA — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left hospital on Sunday, two days after hip surgery, and will spend three weeks recovering at the Alvorada presidential residence, his office and doctors said.

Lula underwent surgery at the Sirio-Libanes Hospital on Friday for arthrosis of the right hip caused by the extremely painful wear and tear of the cartilage on the head of the femur.

His doctors had expected him to remain in the hospital until Tuesday, but he began to walk on Saturday in physiotherapy sessions. The hospital reported he had walked up and down stairs on Sunday.

The orthopedic surgeon who did the surgery, Giancarlo Polesello, has told him to avoid standing for too long and will need to use a walker in the first weeks because the procedure affects the patient’s balance.

The arthroplasty, carried out under general anesthetic, involved removing the head of the femur to implant a prosthesis.

Lula has said he has been in constant pain for more than a year, though this has not stopped him from traveling to dozens of countries since he took office in January.

Lula will only resume presidential trips abroad at the end of November, when he plans to travel to the United Arab Emirates to attend the COP28 global climate meeting.

For the next three weeks, he will govern from the Alvorada Palace.