BRASILIA — Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is doing "well" after undergoing surgery for a brain bleed, his doctors say.

The 79-year-old was taken to hospital in the capital, Brasília, on Monday after he had complained of a severe headache.

An MRI scan revealed the bleed and Lula was transferred to the renowned Sírio-Libanês hospital in São Paulo to have it drained.

The intracranial haemorrhage was caused by a blow to the head he sustained when he fell in his bathroom at the presidential residence in October, according to a hospital statement.

Doctors said they had performed a craniotomy on the president, a procedure in which part of the bone is surgically removed from the skull to treat the bleed and relieve the pressure. The bone is then replaced.

Lula is being monitored in the intensive care unit and doing "well", the hospital statement adds.

It also said there had been no complications during the surgery.

Lula had slipped in the bathroom in the Alvorada Palace on 19 October and hit the back of his head.

He had to have five stitches and, on his doctors' advice, cancelled his planned trip to Russia for a summit of the Brics countries.

He returned to full duties days later.

Lula has been in power since 1 January 2023 after narrowly beating the incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, in a bitterly fought election.

During the election campaign, he often joked that he had "the energy of a 30-year-old". — BBC