Gall Bladder

Cholecystectomy - Gall Bladder Removal

What is it?
The gallbladder lies behind your right ribs at the front, below the liver and above the duodenum (gut). It is a pouch which is connected with the tubing (bile ducts) that carries bile from the liver to the duodenum. Stones forming in the gallbladder often cause pain. If stones escape from the gallbladder they can block the bile ducts and cause pain, fever and yellow jaundice.

The Operation
There are two types of operation: Keyhole and Open. The keyhole method is the most popular, but is not a good idea if you have scars from earlier operations, late pregnancy, or very severe inflammation. In this case, the open method is done. The keyhole method means making 3 wounds about half an inch long in the front of your tummy, plus another wound in your tummy button. A very narrow telescope called a laparoscope is passed through one of the wounds. The surgeon can see what is going on inside your tummy on a television screen. Special narrow instruments are passed through the other wounds. The gallbladder is freed and drawn out through your tummy button wound. The removal is called a cholecystectomy. Using the telescope makes it a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The wounds are then closed with stitches or sticky strips on the skin. Most patients can go home the day after this operation. Rarely, the gallbladder cannot be safely taken out the this way . Then, the open method has to be used to do the job. This can only be decided at the time of the operation. This usually means being in hospital for 4 days or more. In the open method a cut is made in the skin below the right ribs at the front. It is usually made in a skin crease across your tummy so that it hardly shows afterwards. The gallbladder and its stones are removed. X-rays are taken to show whether there are any stones in the bile ducts. If there are, they are removed. The exact procedure depends very much on the detailed findings at the time of the operation. The cut in the skin is then closed up. This method is called an open cholecystectomy.