BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — a former president and also first lady — underwent a successful hysterectomy Thursday at a Buenos Aires clinic.

The clinic issued a statement saying she was “in good general health” after the laparoscopic operation.

Presidential spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti said the procedure had been planned for several weeks. Officials did not say why the operation was needed.

The official Telam news agency said the 68-year-old Fernández de Kirchner was expected to be hospitalized for two to five days.

During her 2007-2015 presidency, she had two other operations — om 2012 to remove a thyroid gland and in 2013 for a subdural hematoma caused by a blow to the head.

Her late husband, Nestor Kirchner, preceded her in the presidency from 2003 to 2007 and she won the vice presidency in 2019 on a ticket with current President Alberto Fernández, who is no relation.

The operation comes just ahead of the country’s Nov. 14 national legislative elections.