Gallbladder Removal (Cholecystectomy) - Laparoscopic in the Houston Region

In laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, your surgeon removes your gallbladder through a minimally invasive surgery that involves small cuts in your abdomen. You are put to sleep through general anesthesia for the surgery.

Your gallbladder sits just below your liver and stores bile, a fluid your liver produces that helps your body digest fat. Hardened deposits called gallstones can sometimes form in the gallbladder that block the flow of bile in your digestive system. Gallstones can cause severe abdominal pain and infection.

Non-surgical treatments usually can't help, and diet modifications won't stop gallstones from recurring. So gallbladder removal surgery — also called a cholecystectomy — is often needed. The surgery removes the gallstones and your gallbladder, which isn't essential for proper digestion.

In most cases, surgeons now use the less invasive laparoscopic surgery to remove gallbladders. In some cases, however, "open surgery" is necessary, in which the surgeon makes a larger cut in your abdomen to access the gallbladder and remove it.

Open surgery might be needed if you have:

• a bleeding disorder
• any condition that would make it difficult for the surgeon to see with the laparoscope during surgery
• major scarring from a previous surgery

In the few days before the surgery, you may be asked to drink a special solution that flushes stool out of your intestines. You should eat nothing the night before your surgery and avoid drinking anything in the four hours before your surgery.

Your medical team might also recommend you stop taking certain medications immediately prior to surgery if they might increase your risk of bleeding.

The surgeon makes a small incision in your abdomen through which a laparoscope — a narrow tube with a camera at the end — is inserted. The camera allows the surgeon and medical team to see inside your abdomen via an image on a computer screen. The surgeon then uses other surgical tools and removes your gallbladder through a different small incision in your abdomen.

A laparoscopic gallbladder surgery usually takes one to two hours.

You may go home the same day of the surgery. In some cases, you may need to stay in the hospital for a night or, rarely, two.

Most people can resume normal activities within a week or so.

Recovery takes longer for people who need open surgery to remove their gallbladder. They will likely have a hospital stay of two to four days, and it may take four to six weeks before they can resume normal activities.

Your doctor may suggest a mostly liquid diet for a few days after the surgery. In people who've had the surgery, bile flows from the liver and into the small intestine. For most people, that does not affect their normal digestion. Some people may have occasionally loose stools after the surgery, but that is usually temporary.

The risks of the surgery are very low. Some complications, though rare, can happen. They include:

• Internal bleeding
• Infection of an incision
• Damage to the bile duct
• Damage to the small intestine
• Overall risk from receiving anesthesia
• Gallstones remain in the abdomen
• Injury to blood vessels in the abdomen

Patients who notice unusual symptoms after the surgery should check with their doctor. Watch for:

• pain that does not get better
• abdominal pain that's different from what you had before the surgery
• severe vomiting or nausea
• inability to have a bowel movement
• diarrhea
• yellowing of the skin (jaundice)

Laparoscopic gallbladder removal surgery is generally less expensive than open surgery. The average MDsave total cost is $12,169 for laparoscopic compared to about $12,000 or more for open surgery. You'll want to check with your health insurance plan to determine your insurance coverage, and any out-of-pocket costs you might have.

Sources:
https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hw106860
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cholecystectomy/about/pac-20384818
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/7017-laparoscopic-cholecystectomy-gallbladder-removal