Sonia recovering well after shoulder surgery, say doctors

New Delhi, Aug 5  Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who underwent surgery to fix a dislocated shoulder suffered during a rally at Varanasi, is recovering well and has been shifted out of the ICU, hospital authorities here said on Friday.

Gandhi's surgery was performed by internationally-acclaimed shoulder experts Sanjay Desai from Mumbai and Prateek Gupta from Delhi on Thursday at the Ganga Ram Hospital here.

"Sonia Gandhi has been shifted out of the ICU and is making steady progress in the hospital," said D.S. Rana, chairman (Board of Management) Ganga Ram Hospital.

A senior doctor said: "Sonia Gandhi underwent two-and-half-hour-long open surgery in which a small cut in the front of the shoulder was made and the head of the humerus, which is like a ball, slowly moved back to its position and fixed using a screw and plate."

When she was admitted to hospital, the Congress chief was also suffering from dehydration and fever.

Various Congress leaders, including Raj Babbar and Sheila Dikshit, visited Gandhi, who is likely to be discharged after a week.

"Priyanka Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are with Sonia only since Thursday morning, but several other leaders are visiting her," said a source.

Gandhi, who fell ill during her Varanasi rally early this week, was initially admitted to Army Research and Referral Hospital, where she was visited by Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar and several senior Congress leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad.