Maradona's doctor discusses recovery and abstinence

Diego Maradona will remain in hospital until Monday at least says his personal doctor Leopoldo Luque, who discussed the Argentina and Napoli legend's abstinence. Maradona underwent a "routine" operation for a subdural haematoma on Tuesday, a day after being admitted to hospital due to concerns over anemia and dehydration.

Luque previously revealed the emergency procedure was successful and he provided a further update on Maradona's condition on Friday. "Diego is having a good post-operative period, the neurological evolution is very good," Luque told reporters outside Olivos Clinic in Buenos Aires province. "We gave him intravenous sedation drugs and he responded very well. Now it was decided to lower that sedation and we noticed a very good neurological response. The next step is to see if Diego remains stable with these drugs in oral form. He is awake but continues with that initial intravenous sedation that takes a little time for the body to eliminate. The idea is that he stays until this process is finished. It varies with the patient, each patient is particular in that sense. He will remain in hospital until Monday that's for sure, and we will see he he evolves. We haven't set a specific day."

Luque saved Maradona's life

Maradona's former personal doctor Alfredo Cahe also addressed the health of the 1986 World Cup winner. In an interview with TyC Sports, Cahe said Maradona had been sedated by doctors to help him cope with withdrawal symptoms from alcohol dependency. "Diego is unmanageable," Cahe said. "He's like when I took him to Cuba. He has to stay away from alcohol. It is difficult because he changed drugs for alcohol, and he deteriorates more and more. We have to take the bull by the horns and stand firm. Diego needs permanent assistance and he has to be convinced to pursue treatment. Diego is not aware of what happened to him and must cleanse his body immediately. Alcohol is also a very strong drug. His future is unknown. I can only say that he has to be close to his daughters. Diego stopped taking drugs years ago. His addition is alcohol and anxiolytics. Today, he has to understand that Luque saved his life. He can't just leave the clinic like that."

Dr. Luque added, "This is always a joint decision with the therapy people, who are the ones who really carry this treatment; the one that I did with my team of neurosurgeons was to drain the subdural hematoma and that procedure went well. Dr. Cahe was not consulted about anything. He came, he is a historical doctor, and among colleagues you have to be cordial. He called me. The abstinence is mainly due to consumption that he had throughout his life, we do not define it punctually with a certain substance or drink, we see a reaction of sweating, anger in a moment, and we classify it as that. It is a syndrome, a set of signs and symptoms, we treated it, we did not just let it go untreated. Diego did not agree very much and we insisted, now he is looking much better."