Rumsfeld Has Surgery on Arthritic Thumb

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was operated on to correct an arthritic problem in his left thumb and was released from the hospital after the three-hour surgical procedure, the Pentagon said.

The brief announcement said that Rumsfeld, who celebrates his 70th birthday today, was operated on by surgeons at nearby Walter Reed Army Medical Center and did not require general anesthesia in the outpatient procedure. “He will wear a cast on his left forearm for the next four to six weeks,” the Defense Department said.