Pope Francis will have surgery on his abdomen on Wednesday afternoon at Rome's Gemelli hospital after he complained of stomach pains, the Vatican has revealed.

The 86-year-old will be put under general anaesthetic for the abdominal surgery and is expected to stay in the hospital for 'several days' to recover.

Francis' medical team had decided in recent days that the surgery was required to treat a 'recurrent, painful and worsening' constriction of the intestine.

The procedure comes two years after Francis had 13 inches of his colon removed because of an inflammation and narrowing of the large intestine. 

Francis is set to have his latest operation on his abdominal wall today following his weekly audience at the Vatican this morning. 

The pontiff had gone for a 40 minute check-up at Gemelli hospital yesterday over concerns about stomach pains before medics decided they must act.

The Vatican said Francis will be undergoing an open abdominal surgery which can help a surgeon both diagnose and treat issues.

The stay at the health facility will last several days to allow for the normal postoperative course and full functional recovery,' the Vatican said. 

And in January this year, the pontiff said the diverticulosis, or bulges in his intestinal wall, that prompted the 2021 surgery, had returned. 

Francis had come out of the 2021 surgery saying he could eat whatever he wanted, but he lamented that he hadn't responded well to the general anesthetic used in the longer-than-expected procedure.

Francis has been plagued with health issues since he was a young man, owing to the complications of a severe condition he contracted in his 20s.

When Francis was 21, he developed pleurisy - the inflammation of the tissue between the lungs and the ribcage.