Brazilian president undergoes second surgery for brain hemorrhage

MEXICO CITY

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had follow-up surgery to prevent further head hemorrhaging, doctors said Thursday.

His physician, Roberto Kalil Filho, told journalists that the operation was a "success."

"He is awake, he is eating, he is in very stable condition. This has not delayed the schedule for the next few days in the slightest," he said.

The second operation, preventive in nature, followed an emergency procedure early Tuesday after Lula was admitted to a hospital after being diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage.

Lula was subjected to the second operation, a meningeal artery embolization, to prevent further bleeding in the affected area of his brain.

It was planned from the start of his initial surgery and did not result from complications.

Doctors said Lula is still expected to be discharged next week, as was initially thought following his craniotomy -- a procedure in which part of the skull is removed to access the area affected by the hemorrhage and drain the blood.

Lula suffered from headaches late Monday after a head injury he sustained during an accident at his home Oct. 19.

After exams at a hospital in Brasilia, he was transferred to Sao Paulo early Tuesday.