Bad news out of Madrid's La Paz Hospital:

The latest procedure was a “decompressive craniectomy” which became necessary in the wake of Tuesday’s seven-hour surgery to remove a brain tumour.

The hospital explained that Ballesteros had suffered from”a decrease in the level of consciousness due to a cerebral edema” – an accumulation of fluid on the brain.

Experts have explained that second surgery, which involved the removal of a section of skull, would have allowed the brain to swell against the scalp, which obviously has more give than the skull. Although hospital officials described Ballesteros’ condition as “stable”, the latest development cannot be construed as anything other than troubling news.

Trevor Lawson, the spokesman for Brain Tumour UK noted that a “post-operative craniectomy” was almost always an emergency procedure and one which nowadays occurs less and less thanks to advances in knowledge and technology. “Probably once in only 100 cases,” said the spokesman.

“There is obviously a problem,” he continued, “and there will be a lot of fingers crossed that the patient makes a good recovery.”

Hopefully this procedure will help the swelling of the brain.