Understanding Laparoscopic Surgery for Gallbladder Removal

The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ just below an individual’s liver in the upper abdomen. The role of a gallbladder is to store bile- the digestive fluid the liver makes to digest fat. At times, the gallbladder gets swollen if the flow of bile is blocked. This occurs due to gallstones, injury, or other conditions. Gallstones are hard deposits formed inside the gallbladder of an individual.

In such scenarios, the patient generally experiences pain and other symptoms. As one does not need a gallbladder to survive, a surgeon typically suggests gallbladder removal surgery in such cases. Removal of a gallbladder from a patient’s body usually does not cause any complications. However, not all cases in which patients have gallstones require surgery to remove their gallbladder.

Typical gallbladder symptoms include the following:

• Severe pain in the abdomen
• Nausea and vomiting
• Indigestion
• Fever
• Yellow skin is also called jaundice; one might get jaundice if gallstones block his/her bile duct.

Gallstones are most commonly seen in women, children, people who are obese and/or people who are above 40 years of age.

Gallbladder surgery can be conducted through either open or a laparoscopy. In a laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, the surgeon removes the gallbladder and gallstones by making a few cuts/incisions in the patient’s abdomen by inflating the abdomen with air or carbon dioxide to see clearly. The patient is given general anaesthesia to conduct the surgery which lasts for 2 hours or less and thus the patient is asleep.

After laparoscopic surgery, bile flows from the liver through the common bile duct into the small intestine. Since the gallbladder has been removed, the body will fail to store bile between meals. In most cases, this has slight or no effect on digestion.

Benefits of a laparoscopic gallbladder surgery

Unlike an open gallbladder surgery, laparoscopy can be done without cutting the muscles of your abdomen allowing the patient to-

• Feel less pain post-surgery
• Have a shorter stay at the hospital
• Experience shorter recovery time
• Resume work more quickly
• Have nearly unnoticeable scars

Reasons for not Conducting Laparoscopic Surgery

In few cases, a surgeon must conduct an open surgery instead of laparoscopy. Following are the reasons for the same.

• Patient’s abdomen is severely damaged due to scars or inflammation.
• Patient has scar tissue in the abdomen due to previous surgery.
• The patient has some lung or heart problems that are contraindications for laparoscopy
• The surgeon cannot view the inside of the body clearly through the laparoscope.
• Bleeding problems during surgery.

Dr Rengan is a girly experienced laparoscopic surgeon in chennai who has tremendous experience in gallbladder surgery. It is advised that you choose an experienced surgeon for your gallbladder problem.