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How serious is gallbladder surgery?

I am a 37 year old male. I will have gallbladder surgery. How serious is gallbladder surgery?

11 Answers

Surgeonsurgeon
Most gallbladder surgeries are performed laparoscopically. The majority of these can be done as outpatient procedures. Some complicated gallbladder operations require an open procedure in which case you might be hospitalized for 3 to 4 days depending on the situation.
All surgeries carry risks.
Usually done laparoscopically as an out patient procedure
Usually a fairly straightforward operation. If done for the right reason you should feel better soon afterward.
Gallbladder surgery is a common procedure whose complications can escalate if the surgery goes wrong. Make sure that your surgeon performs a critical view of safety. Obtaining a critical view of safety is not standard in the USA, but when performed decreases the chances of a serious injury. You are in good hands if the procedure is done by obtaining a critical view of safety.
Majority of gallbladder surgeries are done as out-patient and are routine.


The gallbladder surgery is considered a major surgery and sometimes could be very serious. Today, the gallbladder surgery is being performed laparoscopically, meaning, using tiny incisions through which we insert long instruments and camera performing the operation watching a tv monitor and removing the gall bladder without doing a large right subcostal incision. This laparoscopic approach is successful for most surgeons about 95% of the operative cases. We operate only on patients who have confirmed gallstones by ultrasound and have symptoms such as upper abdominal pain after eating a fatty meals, they have nausea or vomiting or developed abnormalities on the liver function tests or pancreatic enzymes. Once the patient is symptomatic the gallbladder has to be removed. It is much easier to operate on a gallbladder which is not severely inflamed and the complication rate is significantly lower. Like every surgery, complications that could happened are: bleeding, infection, and poor wound healing. There are specific complications that could happen with gallbladder surgery and these are: bile leak, retained stone in the common bile duct, injury of the common bile duct or other neighboring organs. These complications are rare, but they must be explained to the patient prior to surgery and when the informed consent is being obtained.
As long as you have an Experienced surgeon, it should not be too serious of an operation. Typical Gallbladder surgery should last 30-45min and most of the time as outpt surgery. 5-6 day recovery..Healed by 2wks
If you are in good health and need to have your gallblader removed it is done laparoscopically. This is a safe procedure that takes about one hour to complete and need one day of hospital stay.
Thank you for your question. Gallbladder surgery is usually not a serious surgery. When performed by a skilled surgeon, it is usually performed laparoscopically and the recovery is usually quick. The usual hospital stay in this setting is overnight or occasionally outpatient. If the surgeon is not able to perform the procedure laparoscopically and an open procedure is required, then the hospital stay is longer and the post operative recovery and pain are both greater. The procedure is normally performed for symptomatic gallstones. The usual presentation is right upper quadrant abdominal pain after eating a heavy meal. I have specialized in breast cancer surgery and do not actually perform this procedure any longer. Look for an experienced laparoscopic surgeon and a great hospital and you should be all set.

Sincerely,

Bill Barber, MD
In the scheme of surgeries performed by a general surgeon, it is a routine operation. As a patient, a cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) should be considered a major operation. That being said, the operation can be done extremely safely with a low chance of complications. Be sure to discuss these with your surgeon.