King’s surgeon “extremely optimistic” over monarch’s recovery from latest hip operation

The king's surgeon, Miguel Cabanela, said Thursday that the latest intervention performed on the monarch had proved successful.

“All the indications are that everything is on the right track,” he told reporters at the private Quirón hospital in Madrid after King Juan Carlos underwent surgery to implant a permanent plastic hip in place of the temporary prosthesis inserted on September 24. The doctor added that the infection which had affected a previous prosthesis and that had prompted the surgery in the first place has been “overcome” and that he was “extremely optimistic” over the monarch's recovery.

“The king is in very good shape physically and his morale is very high. He has worked very hard on his recovery,” the surgeon said. Cabanela added that Juan Carlos may have to rely on his crutches for up to 10 or 12 weeks, but that he could be able to walk freely before then. “It is possible that he will require a transition from two crutches, to one and then a walking stick. It is foreseeable that by the spring he will be able to walk unaided.”

The king was transferred to a hospital ward six hours after surgery and will begin a “more aggressive” round of recovery treatment that Cabanela said should allow him to attend the annual military reception at the royal palace on January 6. “I think that if he needs to be on his feet for a short period of time, I wouldn't like to say whether an hour or half an hour, he should be able to do so perfectly well,” the surgeon opined.