"The operation was carried out without any problems," Dr. Francisco Holguin told The Associated Press by telephone. "The patient is back in his room, has woken up, and will leave the clinic in three days or so."
Holguin said the gastric bypass procedure – commonly known as a stomach staple – lasted two hours and the 44-year-old Maradona is doing well.
The surgery reduces the stomach's capacity for holding food and bypasses part of the small intestine, forcing the patient to eat less.
Diego Maradona, once one of the world's top soccer players, has struggled with drug and weight problems in recent years. (AP File Photo)
Maradona, hero of Argentina's 1986 World Cup, quit professional soccer in 1997 after years of drug addiction took its toll on his body. He had also grown overweight, which contributed his a series of heart ailments, including a heart attack in February 2004.
He had recently spent time at a clinic in Cuba trying to overcome cocaine addiction.
Maradona had denied rumours that he had travelled to the Caribbean coast in early February to explore a weight-loss operation, saying he was just looking for a place to relax.
But Holguin said this week that experts had been performing medical tests on Maradona at Cartagena's Medigel Servise clinic to make sure he was fit for the operation.
with files from Associated Press
