LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY - GALLBLADDER
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the removal of the gallbladder through very small incisions utilizing a camera. This is done in the operating room under a general anesthetic. In most cases, it is an outpatient procedure. In a few cases, depending on the patient’s medical condition or other variables, the patient might be required to stay in the hospital for a day or two.
The most common reason to remove the gallbladder is for stones in the gallbladder, which give the patient symptoms, including right upper quadrant abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting especially after meals, and occasionally fever, chills, and jaundice. Gallstones can also lead to other conditions, including pancreatitis and systemic infections that can lead to a much more serious and prolonged recovery.
Another reason to remove the gallbladder is malfunctions of the gallbladder, so called biliary dyskinesia. Occasionally the gallbladder is removed for persistent pain in the upper abdomen despite negative workup.
Approximately 95+% of gallbladders can be removed via the laparoscope. This allows the patient to recover more quickly because the incisions are smaller, causing less pain. In turn, this allows the patient to get back to work sooner. The time required to be out of work depends on the type of job the patient has. If it is a job that does not require a large amount of physical activity, most patients can be back to work in about a week to ten days. If it requires a large amount of physical activity, it could take two to three weeks before the patient is allowed to return to work.
There is usually not a big change in the patient’s dietary recommendations. The one long-term side effect that can occur with gallbladder removal is diarrhea. Fortunately only 10% or less of patients who have their gallbladder removed have diarrhea and in those who do have diarrhea, the vast majority will have resolution within a few weeks or a few months after the procedure is completed. In those few patients who do have persistent diarrhea, a medication can be prescribed to bind up the bile and therefore decrease the diarrhea.
The potential risks of removing the gallbladder include bleeding, infection, the small chance of requiring a larger incision to remove the gallbladder, and finally the potential of damaging the bile duct. The bile duct is the tube that drains bile from the liver to the intestine and the gallbladder is attached to this tube. In the process of removing the gallbladder, the connection between the gallbladder and the bile duct has to be dissected free. During the course of this dissection, there is a small chance of injuring the bile duct. If the bile duct becomes injured, bile could be prevented from draining from the liver to the intestine, which could lead to potentially significant and severe damage to the liver. This in turn could lead to jaundice. Therefore, if an injury occurs to the bile duct, this injury does have to be repaired by another operation. Fortunately, the chance of injuring the bile duct is 1% or less and most patients do extremely well with this procedure.
All surgeons at Regional Surgical Specialists have privileges to perform this procedure and your specific surgeon will talk with you in greater depth about any questions you may have about this procedure.
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To read more about Cholecystectomy, click here.
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