Jair Bolsonaro undergoes second procedure to treat persistent hiccups

Original article by Tiago Rogero

Jair Bolsonaro underwent a second “phrenic nerve block procedure” on Monday to treat persistent hiccups.

The treatment went well and the former Brazilian president’s condition is stable, according to his medical team.

The far-right politician, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup to overturn the 2022 election, has been in hospital since Christmas Eve after being granted judicial permission to leave prison to undergo hernia repair surgery.

That operation was successful, but because the bout of hiccups has persisted for months, Bolsonaro underwent a non-surgical, minimally invasive procedure on Saturday to block the phrenic nerve on the right side.

The phrenic nerve is described in medical literature as a vital nerve originating in the neck that controls the diaphragm, the primary muscle involved in breathing. Doctors decided to postpone the same procedure on the left side until Monday to mitigate potential risks.

“Procedure completed. Thank God, we are now waiting for him to be taken back to his room,” wrote the former president’s wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, who has been accompanying him during his hospital stay. Earlier, she said: “It’s been nine months of struggle and anguish with daily hiccups.”

Dr Claudio Birolini later told journalists that Bolsonaro was expected to be discharged on 1 January, provided his recovery remains uneventful.

At the request of his defence lawyers, Bolsonaro was authorised by supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes to leave prison for the hernia surgery. In a statement issued while he was in the hospital, Bolsonaro endorsed the 2026 presidential bid of his son, Flavio Bolsonaro.

Once discharged from the hospital, Bolsonaro will return to serving his sentence at a federal police jail in Brasilia.

He has had health problems since he was stabbed during a presidential campaign event in September 2018.

Bolsonaro underwent multiple abdominal surgeries after the attack.

With Reuters and Agence France-Presse