The name for this type of surgery is cholecystectomy. Every year, 500,000 Americans get a cholecystectomy and the number is increasing as time goes by due to an unhealthy diet.



The cholecystectomy is usually done with the help of the laparoscope. In order to use the laparoscope, the surgeon will have to do three little incisions in the patient's abdomen. After that he will introduce through these incisions inside the abdomen the needed laparoscopic instruments and a tiny video camera. With the help of the camera the surgeon will see the organs inside the abdomen and will be able to use the instruments in order to perform the surgery. The gallbladder will be separated from the liver, then the cystic duct will be cut and then the gallbladder will be removed from the abdomen through one of those tiny incisions.

Using the laparoscope surgery the patients will recover faster and will suffer less pain because the lesions of the abdomen are significantly smaller and less that those made when performing a classical surgery.

Sometimes during the laparoscopic surgery, an infection or other obstacles might be seen and then the surgeon will be forced to switch to the classical surgery. This opened surgery will require a recuperation period of 5 to 7 days inside the hospital and several weeks at home.

Complications can occur during gallbladder surgery, like injuring the bile ducts. This can lead to a leak of the bile which will cause pain and infection. In order to fix that another surgery will be needed.

Sometimes the gallstones are localized inside the bile ducts, and so, before the surgery a gastroenterologist will use endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography to find and extract the gallstones. The doctor can find the gallstones with the help of the endoscope and a special dye which enlightens the bile ducts and shown on a monitor the gallstone's location. The gallstone is removed with the help of a tiny basket attached to the endoscope which is guided through the stomach and into the small intestine. This procedure can also be applied to those who have had a gallbladder surgery but developed after several months or years gallstones inside the bile ducts.

Sometimes the problem with gallstones can be solved temporarily by using nonsurgical methods. These methods are recommended to those who can not bare a surgery and have cholesterol stones. After a while the stones will form again and will need to be removed again.

One method consists of dissolving the stones with a special solution made out of bile acid. Te substances are: ursodiol and chenodiol and they are efficient against small stones. The treatment might be necessary to be followed for several months until the whole stone is dissolved.

Another method of dissolving the stones is by injecting inside the gallbladder special solutions like methyl tertbutyl ether which can dissolve the stone in 1 to 3 days. This procedure is effective for the noncalcified cholesterol stones.

Having the gallbladder removed is not a tragedy; many people get this kind of surgery every year and still live like before. The only problem is the diarrhea which occurs in 1% of the patients but can be solved with a special diet.