Indigenous Leader Raoni Metuktire Stable in ICU After Chest Drain Removal

Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire, 93, has had his chest drain removed and remains in stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Hospital São Paulo in São Paulo, Brazil, as reported by the hospital on Sunday, August 5th. According to the medical bulletin, Chief Raoni is conscious, responsive to commands, breathing ambient air, fever-free, and receiving oral nutrition. He is being monitored in the ICU and continues to experience a cough with secretions. Metuktire was admitted on June 19th due to high intestinal obstruction and aspiration pneumonia, undergoing surgery for intestinal decompression the following day. On June 30th, a right lung pneumothorax was identified and drained without complications. The hospital also reported that Raoni experienced upper gastrointestinal bleeding on Monday, July 29th, which was successfully controlled through an endoscopy that identified active bleeding in the stomach and duodenum. This is not his first hospitalization this year; in May, he was admitted in Mato Grosso for severe abdominal pain from an old hernia, later returning to the ICU for pneumonia treatment. He has multiple pre-existing conditions, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), heart disease with an implanted pacemaker, and heart failure. Previously, in September 2022, he underwent pacemaker surgery, and in July 2020, he was hospitalized for gastrointestinal complications and dehydration, later being diagnosed with pneumonia in September of the same year. His mental health was also affected by the death of his wife, Bekwyjkà Metuktire, during this period.