“What are the side effects of having your gallbladder removed?”
I am a 55 year old male. I will have gallbladder removal surgery. What are the side effects of having your gallbladder removed?
8 Answers
Pain of moderate levels can occur after laparoscopic gallbladder surgery. If the gallstones are large, the incision removal site might have to be enlarged some, but this pain resolves soon. Also, with the absence of a gallbladder, 15% of patients can't tolerate extremely fatty foods. Diarrhea is the side effect. 85% of patients can resume their normal diet.
Possible hernia or bowel obstruction.
The main side effect that can happen is chronic diarrhea, this can be treated with a medication. The side effect may happen and resolve itself without treatment, but if you get the diarrhea, you should contact your surgeon for treatment.
Generally none; however, although rare, some people get loose bowel movements which usually eventually disappears. It is rare for diarrhea to last months or years. It is taught to be an increase in bile acids which enters the large intestine. Medications like cholestyramine or loperamide (immodium AD) can be used. Limit amount of greasy foods, dairy products, caffeine, and sweet foods. Patient must refer to surgeon if diarhea is bloody. Abdominal pain, fever, yellow discoloration of eyes or skin, diarrhea lasting for several weeks or months.
Often there are very few side effects. Most of my patients feel significantly better afterwards. On rare occasions people suffer diarrhea after eating. This can be helped with questran.
Typically patients don’t have any long term issues. It’s not uncommon to have some loose stools for a period of time after the surgery but usually subsided by about 6 weeks. Loose stools that persist can usually be controlled by some bile binding medications.
Some patients will have bile acid diarrhea with fecal urgency after eating fatty foods.
About 1/3 patients will develop post-cholecystectomy dumping. This is where fatty, greasy, or oily foods are eaten, and the patient suffers from nausea, bloating, and rapid diarrhea (dumping). If this occurs, it resolves in 99% of patients within 3 months. It is rare in my practice to have long-term side effects from not having a gallbladder.
