Gov. Pataki Undergoes Another Operation

Gov. George E. Pataki, showing no improvement five days after surgeons removed his appendix, was transferred Tuesday to a New York City hospital and underwent another operation.

Doctors operated to alleviate a blockage in Pataki’s digestive system, said his spokesman, David Catalfamo. Afterward, the governor was “awake, alert and resting comfortably,” Catalfamo said in a statement.

Pataki, 60, checked himself into Hudson Valley Medical Center on Thursday complaining of severe abdominal pain. His appendix, which had begun to rupture, was removed during emergency surgery.

The governor was expected to be released Saturday, but his condition did not improve, so he was transferred to New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, where doctors have access to more resources, Catalfamo said.

A blockage after abdominal surgery is relatively rare, said Daniel Herron, an assistant professor of surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan.

Pataki, a three-term Republican, is considering a run for president in 2008.

Fellow GOP Gov. Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky also remained hospitalized Tuesday after developing a blood infection while recovering from gallbladder surgery last week. The bacteria in Fletcher’s blood were moderately resistant to antibiotics, but treatment seemed to be working, doctors said.

In Connecticut, another Republican governor, M. Jodi Rell, was involved in a car accident Tuesday morning but escaped injury. The governor’s driver and the teenager whose vehicle hit the car’s driver’s side were also uninjured, authorities said.

A car driven by 17-year-old Juliet Ben-Ami struck the governor’s car just after 7 a.m., according to Brookfield police.

“It seems like everything happened so fast,” Rell told WTNH-TV. “She got out of the car. She said, ‘I always wanted to meet the governor, but not like this.’ So I said, ‘It’s OK.’ ”