The 82-year-old was rushed to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital on Tuesday, reportedly with kidney stone pain.
Sources within his conservative Forza Italia (FI) party told Italian media the three-time prime minister was not suffering from anything more serious than renal colic and was “talking on the phone and coordinating”.
But later on Tuesday, sources clarified that he had a bowel occlusion that required an operation which was performed successfully.
Berlusconi was forced to miss a political event on Tuesday held by FI, which he is standing with in next month’s European Parliament election.
A former cruise-ship singer turned property and media tycoon, Berlusconi was Italian prime minister on three occasions between 1994 and 2011.
Despite facing numerous sex scandals, legal battles and health concerns, he is known as “the immortal” for his longevity in politics and led the Italian right for more than two decades.
Berlusconi has faced a string of charges over the so-called Rubygate scandal linked to his parties and the underaged prostitute Karima El-Mahroug, also known as “Ruby the heart-stealer”.
The billionaire businessman is currently on trial for paying a witness to give false testimony about his notoriously hedonistic parties.
Berlusconi is also being investigated or prosecuted for witness tampering in Milan, Siena, Rome and Turin, each time for allegedly paying people to keep quiet about his so-called bunga-bunga parties.
Berlusconi campaigned for FI in last March’s national election, but said his inability to stand as a candidate hurt its chances and for the first time the party trailed the League, by 14 per cent of the vote to 17.35 per cent.
His bid for a European Parliament seat is his first run at public office since being found guilty of tax fraud in 2013.
