The Pope leaves the Vatican to undergo surgery for an abdominal hernia

He Pope Francisco left the Vatican this Wednesday around 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT) to go to the Gemelli hospital in Rome, where in the afternoon will be operated under general anesthesia by laparotomy in the abdominal wall through a incarcerated incisional hernia.

Francis, of 86 yearshas gone to the hospital aboard his usual vehicle and, according to the Vatican, will have to remain hospitalized several days for your recovery.

“At the end of the General Audience, the Pope will go to the University Hospital, where in the early afternoon he will be placed under general anesthesia to a surgical intervention of laparotomy and plastic surgery of the abdominal wall with a prosthesis,” the Holy See said in a statement.

The Vatican has explained that “the operation, arranged in recent days by the medical team assisting the pope, has become necessary because of an incarcerated incisional hernia that is causing recurrent, painful, and worsening subocclusive syndromes.”

The operation has been considered urgent after the results of the CT scan that he underwent this Tuesday and occurs after the colon intervention in July 2021.