Brazilian ex-president Bolsonaro’s treatment for persistent hiccups touches a nerve | Jair Bolsonaro
Michelle Bolsonaro, wife of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, said in a statement on social media that she underwent a “phrenic nerve blockade procedure” on Saturday to treat her ongoing hiccups.
Doctors treating Bolsonaro later said they had blocked the right phrenic nerve and planned a new procedure within 48 hours to block the left phrenic nerve.
The phrenic nerve is described in the medical literature as a vital nerve originating from the neck that controls the diaphragm, the primary muscle for breathing.
“Nine months of daily sobbing and suffering,” Michelle Bolsonaro said.
Bolsonaro’s doctors said the procedure went well.
70-year-old Bolsonaro was hospitalized on Wednesday for a hernia surgery. In September, he was convicted by Brazil’s supreme court of plotting a coup to reverse his 2022 election loss and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
At the request of his defense lawyers, he was allowed to leave prison for surgery by superior court judge Alexandre de Moraes. In a statement he made while he was in the hospital, Bolsonaro approved his son Flavio Bolsonaro’s 2026 presidential candidacy.
After being discharged from the hospital, Bolsonaro will continue to serve his sentence in the federal police prison in the capital.
Jair Bolsonaro had been facing health problems since the stabbing incident during his presidential campaign event in the town of Juiz de Fora in Minas Gerais state in September 2018.
After the stabbing, Bolsonaro underwent various surgeries on his abdominal area.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
