Hrithik Roshan

Mumbai, July 7: Hrithik Roshan underwent surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain at a Mumbai hospital this afternoon.

“The surgery was one-and-a-half-hour-long and is successful. Hrithik is doing fine. We are in his room and he is chatting normally. He should be out of the hospital in 48 hours,” father Rakesh Roshan told The Telegraph from Hinduja hospital.

Parents Rakesh and Pinky and wife Sussane were with the actor when he was wheeled into the operation theatre at the central Mumbai hospital at 2pm.

Describing the medical condition as “chronic subdural haematoma”, Rakesh Roshan said: “Doctors say it is a clot between the brain and the skull.”

A chronic subdural haematoma is usually caused by a minor head injury, said Dr V.K. Singh, senior consultant neurosurgeon at the Apollo Indraprastha Hospital in Delhi.

“The surgery for chronic subdural haematoma typically involves making two small incisions to drain the blood out,” Singh said.

“If things go well, a patient may be discharged from hospital within three days after the procedure — and could be fully recovered in three weeks,” said Singh who is not associated in any way with Hrithik’s treatment.

Asked if his son had suffered any injury during the filming of Krrish 3, due for release this Diwali, Roshan said: “No, no, it was not during Krrish 3 shoot. He had travelled to Bangkok two months ago for the shoot of the new film, Bang Bang. He had jumped into the sea from a height. It is possible that when he hit the water surface, it may have had an impact.”

“Hrithik complained of recurring headaches and so we did a CT scan a month ago, but the scan did not show anything. He was to shoot again for Bang Bang yesterday. As a precautionary measure, he underwent an MRI scan and it showed there is a clot. So, we decided to do this emergency surgery,” the father said.

A medical bulletin issued by the hospital tonight said Hrithik was admitted at 10.30pm yesterday and operated on by Dr B.K. Mishra, the head of the nuerosurgery department. “He had a history of sudden onset of headache after impact on his head during an action sequence of a film that he was shooting for 2 months back. CT Plain and MRI of the brain, which was done on 5th July, showed left frontoparietalsubacute subdural haematoma.”

The “headache is better with normal hand function. He met his family and friends post the surgery”, the bulletin further said. “Hrithik is advised 3 more days in the hospital post which he can gradually get to his normal lifestyle and shooting schedules post 4 weeks.”

A father of two, Hrithik had announced on Facebook that he was going in for the surgery. “I am going to go through brain surgery today and want you to know that I am going in with absolute power to recover fast,” he posted.

Dr Adil Chagla, a neurosurgeon at KEM Hospital told The Telegraph: “Chronic subdural haematoma basically means a clot under the dura or the surface of the brain. It is normally reported by elderly patients. It is not arterial but veinal bleed.

“It is not life-threatening if treated. The word chronic describes a little bleeding oozing over a period of time. If Hrithik has undergone a surgery, he would be fine soon.”