Friends star Matthew Perry is on the mend.
The 48-year-old recently underwent surgery in a Los Angeles hospital “to repair a gastrointestinal perforation,” his spokesperson confirmed in a statement to The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.
“He is grateful for the concern and asks for continued privacy as he heals,” the spokesperson said.
Perry’s rep did not say when the surgery occurred, nor what caused the perforation.
While “gastrointestinal perforation” is a vague medical term, it appears to refer to a hole that develops in the wall of any of the following organs: esophagus, stomach, small intestine or large intestine.
Perforations can be caused by underlying illnesses, stomach ulcers, bowel obstructions or physical trauma, such as a knife or gunshot wound, and can also result from abdominal surgeries or medical procedures, such as a colonoscopy or endoscopy, according to Healthline and the government-run MedlinePlus.
Perry, who recently appeared in The Kennedys mini-series and CBS’ The Good Fight, has been candid about his health struggles in the past, often discussing his very public battle with addiction.
“Mostly it was drinking, you know, and opiates,” he said on ABC News in 2013. “I think I was pretty good at hiding it, but, you know, eventually people were aware.”
