Brazilian president comes out of surgery Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has come out of a seven-hour-long surgery during which doctors removed the colostomy bag put into place after he was stabbed in a campaign rally in September

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro came out of a seven-hour-long surgery Monday during which doctors removed the colostomy bag put into place after he was stabbed in a campaign rally in September.

Presidential spokesman Gen. Otavio Santana do Rego Barros said the operation, which began at 8:30 a.m. local time, was a success.

"The procedure lasted seven hours and occurred without complications" Rego Barros said at a press conference, describing the surgery as a "work of art".

"At the moment, the patient is clinically stable, conscious, pain-free, in the intensive care unit," read a statement released by the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, where Bolsonaro checked in on Sunday evening.

Vice President Hamilton Mourao took the reins on Monday morning as interim president for a period of 48 hours. Bolsonaro is then expected to resume work from his hospital room, where he will stay for several days.

Bolsonaro, 63, nearly died on Sept. 6 after he was stabbed during a campaign rally in the southeastern city of Juiz de Fora. The far-right president suffered serious internal bleeding and intestinal damage.