Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro undergoes medical treatment for hiccups

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro received a medical procedure to treat his chronic hiccups, his medical team announced.

Saturday’s treatment “went well”, according to one of his doctors. Another, Claudio Birolini, added that the procedure – which he said was not surgery – lasted “about an hour”.

The former far-right leader is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election in the Latin American country to left-wing opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

This latest procedure comes after the 70-year-old successfully underwent double hernia surgery earlier this week, after being cleared to be transferred to hospital.

Before the operation, Bolsonaro also supported his son Flávio’s candidacy against Lula in the 2026 Brazilian presidential election. His statement – ​​a handwritten letter – was read by the younger Bolsonaro outside the hospital.

Following the successful operation, his medical team deemed it necessary to treat his recurring hiccups, which he had been suffering from for months.

“It has been nine months of struggle and anguish with daily failures,” Bolsonaro’s wife, Michelle, said Saturday.

She explained in a social media post that her husband’s procedure had “blocked” one of her phrenic nerves.

The phrenic nerves contract and expand the diaphragm, which allows the lungs to inhale and exhale. Hiccups are caused by involuntary spasms of the diaphragm, usually due to an irritated phrenic nerve.

His doctors later confirmed that they had treated the right phrenic nerve and planned to work on the left nerve on Monday.

Once released from the hospital, the former president will return to a cell at the federal police headquarters to continue serving his sentence.

Bolsonaro was convicted of the coup plot in September. He was placed under house arrest while awaiting his appeal, but was taken into custody last month after being considered a “concrete flight risk”.

Court officials said he tried to break his ankle monitor and planned to use a gathering outside his home as cover for an escape attempt. Bolsonaro insisted he had no plans to flee.

Also on Saturday, Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered 10 officials under house arrest for participating in his attempted coup. All had served in his government.