São Paulo, Brazil - Brazil's 79-year-old President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was in "stable" condition after emergency surgery Tuesday for an intracranial bleeding and should leave the hospital next week, his doctors said.

Lula was taken late Monday to Brazil's top medical facility, Hospital Sirio-Libanes in São Paulo, after experiencing headaches that medics found were related to a fall he suffered in October.

The leader of South America's largest country regained consciousness following the two-hour operation and was eating and talking, the doctors told a news conference.

Vice President Geraldo Alckmin had taken over some of Lula's workload. But Communications Minister Paulo Pimenta said in a radio interview that "we don't consider it necessary for the president to be formally removed" from his duties.

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Lula's wife, First Lady Rosangela Janja da Silva, said on Instagram: "After successful surgery, the anguish of last night has changed to calm and the certainty that, with the dedication of the medical team and faith and the people's love, he will soon return to work."

A spokesperson for the US National Security Council said on X that "we are pleased to hear that his operation this morning went well and wish him a speedy recovery."

The bleeding was linked to a fall Lula suffered on October 19, the hospital said. Lula hit his head after falling in a bathroom at the presidential residence in the capital Brasília and received several stitches.

After experiencing a headache on Monday, a medical examination with an MRI scan in Brasília found the intracranial hemorrhage.

Lula was swiftly transported to Hospital Sirio-Libanes, where surgeons performed a trepanation – drilling into the skull to relieve pressure.

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"He didn't have brain damage" from the emergency, said Roberto Kalil, a doctor on the medical team.

Lula underwent a successful hip replacement in September 2023, which he hoped would put an end to pain that had become unbearable and put him "in a bad mood."

He was also treated for throat cancer in 2011, which was put into remission through chemo- and radiotherapy.