Gallbladder Surgery
Gallbladder is a pear shaped organ present close to the liver. Its function is to store and concentrate bile juice which is produced in the liver. It does not produce bile as many people think. Bile is a juice produced by the liver which helps the body to digest fat.
Gallstones are stones which form within the gallbladder. They may vary in number and size. For management of these stones, size I shape and number is not relevant.
Symptoms of gallstones are severe abdominal pain often called a gallstone ‘attack’ (colic) because they occur suddenly. Gallstone attacks often follow fatty meals, and they may occur during the night. A typical attack can cause the following:
- Severe pain in the right upper abdomen that increases
- rapidly and lasts from few minutes to several hours
- Pain in the back between the shoulder blades
- Pain under the right shoulder
- Nausea or vomiting
Other insignificant symptoms of gallstones include:
- Abdominal bloating (gas formation)
- Recurring intolerance to fatty foods
- Belching
- Indigestion
Many patients with gallstones have no symptoms, these patients are said to be asymptomatic and these stones are called ‘Silent Stones’. They can anytime become symptomatic and cause complications.
- Recurrent severe abdominal pain or vomiting
- Pus formation in the gallbladder (Empyema)
- Cholangitis (life threatening infection of biliary system)
- Gangrene and perforation of the gallbladder
- Acute pancreatitis (swelling of pancreas) which can have a catastrophic sequel of multi-organ failure and other serious complications
- Jaundice due to blockage of the common bile duct due to stones
- Associated with Cancer of gallbladder in the long term
Surgery to remove the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) is the only way to cure gallstones. This can be done by conventional (open) method or a well established endoscopic (laparoscopic) method which is now the ‘Gold Standard’. The surgery is called Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (Lap. Chole). For this operation, the surgeon makes few tiny cuts in the abdomen and inserts surgical instruments and a miniature telescope with a mounted video camera into the abdomen. The camera sends a magnified image from inside the body to a video monitor, giving the surgeon a close-up view of the organs and tissues. While watching the monitor, the surgeon uses the instruments to carefully separate the gallbladder from the liver, ducts and vessels. The gallbladder is then removed through one of thesmall incisions.
The patient is discharged within few hours after the surgery or on the same day or next day of operation unless there is some associated medical problem.