Pope Francis goes to hospital for scheduled surgery on colon

Vatican says pontiff had general anaesthetic during operation for diverticular stenosis of the colon

Pope Francis reacted well" to planned intestinal surgery on Sunday evening at a Rome hospital, the Vatican has announced.

In a statement late in the evening, Matteo Bruni, a Holy See spokesman, said Francis, 84, had general anaesthesia during the surgery necessitated by a stenosis, or narrowing, of the sigmoid portion of the large intestine.