WORLD : Yeltsin Recovering From Surgery

BARCELONA, Spain —  Maverick Moscow communist Boris Yeltsin came through emergency surgery for a herniated disk in fine shape and should leave the hospital by the end of this week, the Soviet lawmaker’s doctor said today.

Yeltsin, who had complained of stabbing back pains and numbness in his right foot Monday, was doing “very well” after the 90-minute operation, said Dr. Josep Llobet Tapies, who performed the surgery.

The neurosurgeon described the 59-year-old Yeltsin, who was recovering in an intensive care ward, as a “strong patient” who should be released from the hospital in three to five days.

El Pais, Spain’s largest daily, quoted the animated and cheerful Yeltsin as instructing his doctor, “Operate, because it wouldn’t be good for the future president of the U.S.S.R. to have a paralyzed foot.”