The Corinthians player complained of pain in his left calf, and after a test the Brazil team doctor confirmed that it was swollen.
As a result, he has been ruled out of selection for the Seleção for their game in Belem, which takes place at 21:50 Wednesday night local time (01:50 Thursday morning UK time).
Paulinho joined Brasileirão title challengers Corinthians in 2010, and after a series of impressive performances, made his Brazil debut in the first leg of the ‘Superclasico de las Americas’ against Argentina earlier this month.
He is the second player to become unavailable for Brazil after Mario Fernandes refused to play for Mano Menezes’ side.
