Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev underwent an emergency brain surgery at a private hospital here, a statement from the hospital said on Wednesday.

The surgery was carried out on March 17 to remove bleeding in the skull. Sadhguru was weaned off the ventilator post-surgery, according to a statement from Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, adding he has shown “steady progress, and his brain, body, and vital parameters have improved.”

Environmental conservation efforts

The 66-year-old spiritual guru is the founder of the Isha Foundation and has launched campaigns for environmental conservation, such as ‘Save Soil’ and ‘Rally for Rivers’.

He had been suffering from severe headaches for the last four weeks. Despite the severity of the pain, he continued with his regular daily schedule and social activities and even conducted the Maha Shivaratri function on March 8, the statement said.

It said the headache worsened by March 15, when he consulted Dr Vinit Suri, the hospital’s senior consultant neurologist, over the phone.

Suri immediately suspected a subdural haematoma and advised an urgent MRI, it added.

Brain bleeding surgery

The spiritual leader underwent a brain MRI on the same day, and it revealed massive bleeding in the skull.

“There was evidence of a chronic bleed of three to four weeks duration as well as fresh bleeding that had occurred within a duration of 24 to 48 hours,” the statement said.

Sadhguru was advised of immediate hospitalisation and appropriate medication schedule adjustment, but he had important meetings and events scheduled for March 15 and March 16, it said, adding that he completed the meetings with the support of pain medication.

On March 17, he developed a decline in his level of consciousness and weakness in the left leg and was admitted to the medical facility under the care of Dr Suri. The CT scan revealed a marked increase in brain swelling, and a decision was taken to operate, it said.

Sadhguru was managed by a team of doctors comprising Dr Vinit Suri, Dr Pranav Kumar, Dr Sudheer Tyagi and Dr S Chatterjee and underwent an emergency brain surgery on March 17 to remove the bleeding in the skull, the statement said.

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