Alberto Fernández was operated on for a herniated disc and will rest at Quinta de Olivos

Alberto Fernández arrived at the Otamendi Sanatorium in an official vehicle (Gustavo Gavotti)

As planned, Alberto Fernández underwent surgery this afternoon at the Otamendi Sanatorium, through a procedure called “root blocking.” The President was forced to be hospitalized after being diagnosed with a herniated lumbar disc on Tuesday, due to pain in the spine that he had begun to suffer last week and that kept him immobilized in the Olivos residence for the last few days.

The first president entered the Buenos Aires private clinic at 5:30 p.m., and remained there for a little over two hours. After 7:00 p.m., he was transferred back to the fifth officer, where he will rest for the next few days. Over the next few days, his doctors will closely follow his evolution, but it is still unknown when he will be able to resume his activities as usual. In the Casa Rosada they point to next week.

The spokesperson’s office released a statement this afternoon with the medical report of the Presidential Medical Unit. “It is reported that, on the day of the date, the President of the Nation underwent a root block, due to a herniated lumbar disc. The President has already withdrawn to the Quinta de Olivos residence, where he will continue with the corresponding controls. He will keep public opinion informed, ”says the statement, signed by Dr. Federico Saavedra.

The pain began last week, according to official sources, when the President bent down to lift a box during a social gathering. Since that bad movement, the ailment worsened and on Tuesday he had to be admitted to the private clinic, where studies were carried out. That day, the Presidential Medical Unit diagnosed that she was suffering from a hernia, at waist level, a condition that occurs when one of the cartilaginous cushions (discs) found between the bones (vertebrae) “breaks” and the “substance gelatinous escapes and irritates the surrounding nerves”, according to specialists explained to this medium.

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Today at 9, the spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti informed in her usual press conference that Alberto Fernández was about to undergo the procedure. “The President had lower back pain, he underwent the corresponding studies and they indicated a small intervention that will be carried out in the next few hours, today or tomorrow. Meanwhile he carries out his activities at the Olivos residence. When the day and time of the intervention is decided, it will be officially communicated, ”she specified.

The root block, explained to Infobae the neurosurgeon and professor at the University of Buenos Aires Matías Baldoncini (MN 135,985), is done “in the operating room, guided by fluoroscopy, with radiology equipment, or it can also be done in tomography. It consists of introducing a small finite needle, reaching the nerve root where the patient is in pain and administering medication around the root”.

The front of the Otamendi Sanatorium (Photo: Matías Baglietto)

The specialist pointed out that “the objective is to bathe the nerve root, generating an anti-inflammatory effect that the disc that is in contact with the root is producing. It is generally a procedure that improves nerve root pain, and in many cases, it can be an outpatient procedure since the patient’s pain improves and they can be discharged.”

During Wednesday and Thursday morning, while he was confined in Olivos before returning to the Otamendi, Alberto Fernández received various officials from his closest circle. Yesterday the Secretary of the Presidency, Julio Vitobello; his Legal and Technical counterpart, Vilma Ibarra, and the foreign minister, Santiago Cafiero, who traveled from the Casa Rosada or the Palacio San Martín, respectively, to define in person with the president how to continue with the management and campaign for the reelection under current conditions. For example, the President had to postpone the trip that he had planned for Wednesday to Chaco, and yesterday he defined that he will do it next week, while the visit to Concordia, Entre Ríos, will take place later.

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Beyond these private meetings, this morning, the Head of State, limited in his mobility, sought to be publicly active, with a pre-announced, photographed and broadcast meeting with the mayor of General Roca, María Emilia Soria, who has just been re-elected for a second term. From the office of the Spokesperson they showed him smiling next to the municipal chief. In addition, in the early hours of the day he also received the Minister of Transportation, Diego Giuliano, to formalize the call for bids for a work on the Magdalena Canal.

And after noon he saw in his office the head of Advisors to the Presidency, Antonio Aracre, who arrived together with the CEOs of the Accenture companies; Endeavor; Nature; Mercedes, and Unilever. It was the continuation of the series of meetings that the former CEO of Syngenta began to prepare for the President with private executives: last week had been the first, with representatives of two food and technology production companies.

At the Casa Rosada they estimated that next week, starting Monday, Alberto Fernández would be able to resume his official activities on a regular basis, but they were cautious when it came to stating it with certainty. In the next few days his state of health will be closely evaluated.

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