Operation takes Kerry off campaign trail
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was undergoing surgery today to repair a minor shoulder injury, and was expected to be off the campaign trail for the rest of the week.
Kerry tore part of his right rotator cuff in January, when he wrenched the shoulder while bracing himself as his campaign bus came to an abrupt stop in Iowa.
The operation, which was being performed by Dr Bertram Zarins, chief of sports medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, requires general anaesthesia and should take about 45 minutes.
Kerry was expected to return home tonight and will wear a sling for a day or two before being allowed to use the arm carefully, Zarins said.
Kerry interrupted his campaign schedule for surgery twice last year. He had a cancerous prostate removed in February 2003, followed a month later by minor outpatient surgery to remove a wart from an eyelid.
