Cristina Kirchner to remain in hospital after emergency appendectomy

Former two-time President Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner is receiving treatment in hospital after undergoing emergency surgery over the weekend for appendicitis.  Medical doctors at the Otamendi Clinic who are treating her released a statement on Monday at noon saying she remains on antibiotic treatment and has a peritoneal drain, without fever or complications so far. Kirchner, who is 72, is currently under house arrest after having been sentenced to six years in jail for fraudulently awarding public works contracts during her terms as president (2007-2015). The leader of the Peronist party was rushed to the Otamendi Clinic on Saturday after suffering from extreme abdominal pain. At the clinic, a private hospital close to her home, the ex-president underwent laparoscopic surgery, which confirmed a diagnosis of “appendicitis with localized peritonitis.” The hospital said after the surgery she recovered “without postoperative complications.” During the weekend a group of her supporters set up a vigil outside the hospital. They displayed signs with slogans that read “You’ll never walk alone” and “Cristina is innocent.” On Sunday she received visits from her son, Mximo Kirchner, and some Peronist leaders, including Quilmes Mayor Mayra Mendoza, one of her strongest allies. Although the clinic did not state when Kirchner will be discharged, it indicated she will not be returning home immediately. “The hospitalization criteria remains in place until the completion of the relevant treatment,” concludes the statement released by the medical professionals on Monday. Previous health scares Kirchner, who suffers from low blood pressure, has had a series of health issues in recent decades. On several occasions, when she was president, she was forced to suspend official activities due to drops in blood pressure, and her doctors ordered periods of rest.  In 2013, during her second presidency, she was hospitalized for a chronic subdural hematoma, an accumulation of blood between the brain and the membrane that covers it, which was presumably caused by a blow. Surgery was performed to drain the hematoma at the Favaloro Foundation, and she was prescribed several weeks of rest.  In later years, in November 2021, she underwent a total hysterectomy at the Otamendi Clinic to treat a suspicious uterine polyp.  Kirchner also suffered an assassination attempt in September 2022 when a gunman tried to fire a pistol centimeters from her face, but failed because the gun had not been properly loaded.