Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro underwent medical treatment on December 27, 2025, for the hiccups he has been suffering from for months. (Photo by Pablo Porciuncula / AFP)
Brasília, Brazil: Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro underwent a medical procedure Saturday to treat recurrent hiccups he has been dealing with for months, according to his medical team.
The 70-year-old ex-president, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for an attempted coup, had been released from prison Wednesday to undergo surgery for a groin hernia at the DF Star Hospital in Brasilia.
That surgery was performed Thursday without incident, and Bolsonaro remained hospitalized for several days for evaluation.
During that time, Bolsonaro's medical team determined it was necessary to perform an anesthetic block of the phrenic nerve -- which controls the diaphragm -- to treat his recurring hiccups.
Bolsonaro's doctor, Claudio Birolini, told reporters on Thursday that the procedure involved locating the nerve using an ultrasound machine and then injecting it with a local analgesic.
The procedure on Saturday "went well," according to another of the doctors, Mateus Saldanha.
Birolini said the process took about an hour, adding that "it's not surgery...it does not involve any incisions."
The right side of the nerve was treated Saturday, and a procedure to treat the left side of the nerve is set for Monday.
