Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent another brain surgery on Friday, following a deterioration in his condition two days after he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage.
Sharon was operated upon the second time after the first surgery failed to stop the bleeding, resulting in a rise in the blood pressure in his brain.
The bleeding was discovered after a brain scan was conducted on Friday morning.
The second surgery, during which surgeons tried to drain blood from his brain and lower the pressure in his skull, ended late Friday afternoon. He is now due to undergo another scan to check progress.
"The bleeding in an area of the brain, as well as a slight broadening of the brain's chambers and the rise in blood pressure were discovered during a scan performed on Sharon's brain in the morning," Shlomo Mor-Yoseph, director of Hadassa Ein Kerem Hospital said.
"It has been decided to return the Prime Minister to the operating room in order to drain the blood and lower the blood pressure in the skull," he said.
Sharon underwent surgery for more than seven hours on Wednesday night to stem massive haemorrhaging in his brain. He was then shifted to intensive care where he was to be kept under anaesthesia for another 72 hours.
{{/usCountry}}Sharon underwent surgery for more than seven hours on Wednesday night to stem massive haemorrhaging in his brain. He was then shifted to intensive care where he was to be kept under anaesthesia for another 72 hours.
{{/usCountry}}The brain haemorrhage came less than three weeks after he suffered a minor stroke, which doctors said caused no lasting damage. Medical experts say chances that Sharon will recover without severe and irreversible damage to his brain are extremely slim.
Sharon was rushed to a hospital in Jerusalem from his home in southern Israel after complaining Wednesday that he was feeling unwell. He reached the hospital "dazed" and with high blood pressure.