What is involved in gallbladder surgery?

Your gallbladder sits just below your liver. It collects and stores bile, a digestive fluid your liver uses to process food and waste. If your gallbladder starts causing uncomfortable symptoms like nausea or pain or blocks the flow of bile, surgery is often needed.

Surgery involves removing this pear-shaped organ. The procedure is most often done using advanced minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques. If laparoscopy isn’t right for your case, the surgeons will use a more invasive open surgery technique.

Why would I need gallbladder surgery?

Gallstones, gallbladder disease, and the presence of gallbladder tumors are reasons why you’d need gallbladder surgery. Gallstones form when there’s too much cholesterol in your bile and are the most common reason for surgery.

The presence of gallstones doesn’t always mean you need surgery. Small gallstones can pass through your digestive system without any problem. But larger stones or ones that get stuck can cause symptoms like nausea, stomach pain, and vomiting.

Even if you don’t have the symptoms associated with gallstones, they can block the flow of bile and cause complications like:

• Gallbladder inflammation (cholecystitis)
• Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
• Bile duct infection (cholangitis)
• Blood infection (sepsis)
• Gallbladder cancer

If you suspect gallstones or another problem with your gallbladder, schedule a consultation today at One Surgical Specialists to determine treatment.

What should I expect from gallbladder surgery?

Before surgery is even scheduled, your provider at One Surgical Specialists completes a thorough medical history, physical exam, and screenings like ultrasounds and blood tests to determine if gallbladder surgery is the proper treatment for you.

The surgery itself is minimally invasive and done on an outpatient basis. You recover at home. During gallbladder surgery, your surgeon uses three or four tiny incisions to insert a laparoscope — a thin tube with a lighted camera on its end — and small instruments to remove the diseased or damaged organ.

Minimally invasive surgery means a faster, easier recovery compared with conventional open surgery. You also have far less scarring and blood loss and a reduced risk of infection after surgery.

Schedule your consultation today to learn if gallbladder surgery is right for you. Call One Surgical Specialists or use this website’s online scheduling.