Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was on Tuesday recovering from an operation to drain a bleed on his brain, his doctors said in a statement.

According to the medical note released by his doctors in Sao Paulo, President Lula underwent craniotomy on Monday.

Why did Brazil's Lula have surgery?

Lula's surgery was linked to a fall at his home in October.

He had an MRI scan late on Monday after suffering a headache, which detected an intracranial hemorrhage. 

He was then transferred to Sao Paulo for surgery at the Sirio Libanes hospital.

The hospital said the operation went "without complications" and that the 79-year-old leftist leader was "doing well, under monitoring" in an intensive care unit.

Following his fall in October, tests in early November showed his condition remained stable.

But the injury forced him to cancel a trip to Russia for the BRICS summit, in accordance with medical advice to temporarily avoid long-haul flights.

Doctors are expected to hold a press conference at 9 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) to provide further details.

mf/rm (Reuters, AFP)