By Jeffrey T. Lewis
SÃO PAULO--Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was released from the hospital Wednesday morning after undergoing treatment for a bowel obstruction.
Mr. Bolsonaro, who was stabbed in the gut by an attacker during the 2018 presidential campaign, was admitted to the hospital early Monday after complaining of abdominal discomfort.
Doctors performed a gastric probe and were able to remove the obstruction, allowing Mr. Bolsonaro's intestine to return to normal functioning, his doctor, Antônio Macedo, told reporters waiting for the president to leave the hospital.
Mr. Bolsonaro will need to take it easy for a few days, and should eat more slowly and chew more carefully to help avoid future problems, Mr. Macedo said.
The president told reporters it will be difficult to follow those instructions because "I can't control myself... Life goes on."
The president has undergone multiple surgeries related to the stabbing, and in July of last year he was admitted to the same hospital for an abdominal obstruction. In that case, he was released four days later without undergoing surgery.
The right-wing former army captain, who defeated a protégé of former left-wing President Luiz Inácio da Silva in 2018 to win Brazil's highest office, faces an uphill battle for re-election in the presidential elections in October.
He trails Mr. da Silva, who was jailed in 2018 after a conviction on corruption charges and was later released, by significant margins in recent opinion polls.
Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-05-22 1042ET
