“The surgery was carried out without complications and lasted three hours”, reports Holy See Press in a statement published this Wednesday June 7 in the afternoon after the Holy Father’s surgical intervention at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
The Holy Father, admitted to the A. Gemelli Polyclinic, underwent surgery programmed and performed in the early afternoon by Prof. Sergio Alfieri, Director of the Department of Abdominal and Endocrine Metabolic Medical and Surgical Sciences, assisted by Dr. Valerio Pope, by Dr. Roberta Menghi by Dr. Antonio Tortorelli and by Dr. Joseph Quero; the operation was conducted under general anesthesia by Prof. Massimo Antonelli, Director of the Department of Emergency, Anaesthesiological and Resuscitation Sciences, assisted by Dr. Teresa Sacco, Dr. Paola Aceto and Dr. Maurizio Soave and Dr. Giuseppina Annetta for the positioning of the central vascular access.
Also present in the Operating Room were Prof. Giovanni Battista Doglietto, Director of the Health Assistance Fund, and Dr. Luigi Carbone, Doctor of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State.
We send below the information provided by Prof. Alfieri, who performed the surgery:
“This afternoon, at the Gemelli Polyclinic, the Holy Father underwent the surgery scheduled for an incarcerated incisional hernia on the site of the scar from previous laparotomic surgical operations carried out in past years.
This incisional hernia caused the Holy Father, for some months, a painful and worsening intestinal subocclusive syndrome.
During the surgical intervention, tenacious adhesions were found between some partially englobed mid-tenal bowel loops and the parietal peritoneum which caused the symptoms mentioned above.
We therefore proceeded to release the adhesions (internal scars) with complete debridement of the entire tenuous skein. The hernial defect was then repaired by abdominal wall plastic surgery with the aid of a prosthetic mesh.
The surgery and general anesthesia went without complications. The Holy Father reacted well to the surgery.”
Pope Francis is vigilant and aware and thanks for the numerous messages of closeness and prayer that immediately reached him.
At the end of the General Audience on Wednesday morning Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s A. Gemelli University Hospital where he will undergo surgery in the early afternoon.
A statement released by the Holy See Press Office said the Holy Father “will undergo a laparotomy and abdominal wall surgery under general anaesthesia.”
“The surgery, decided upon over the past few days by the medical team assisting the Holy Father, became necessary due to an incisional laparocele (hernia) that is causing recurrent, painful and worsening sub-occlusive syndromes,” the statement said.
The Press Office added that the Pope will remain in the hospital for several days “to allow for a normal post-operative course and full functional recovery.”
The Pope’s admission to the hospital follows a visit and consultation with doctors at the same facility on Tuesday afternoon.
