Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (Gallbladder Removal)

The pattern is often the same. A heavy or oily meal, a wedding dinner or a plate of pakoras, and an hour or two later a gripping pain under the right ribs that spreads to the back or right shoulder. It may last a few hours, sometimes with vomiting, and then settle until the next time. Many people are treated for acidity for months before an ultrasound shows gallstones.

The gallbladder is a small pouch under the liver that stores bile, the digestive juice that helps break down fat. Stones form when bile becomes too concentrated. In a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the surgeon removes the whole gallbladder with its stones through four small cuts. The duct and artery connected to it are clearly identified, closed with clips and divided, and the gallbladder is peeled off the liver and taken out in a bag.

For most people the attacks stop for good. Bile now flows straight from the liver into the gut, and most people eat normally again within a few weeks. A minority notice looser stools after fatty food, which usually settles with time.

Our general surgery team performs laparoscopic cholecystectomy regularly, using HD laparoscopic systems. Every patient has blood tests, an ECG and a chest X-ray before surgery. If a stone has slipped into the bile duct, our gastroenterologists can clear it by ERCP before or after the operation.

Gallstones found by chance on an ultrasound, with no symptoms, usually don't need surgery. The operation is advised once stones start causing trouble, because after the first attack, further attacks and complications become more likely.

Recovery after keyhole gallbladder surgery is usually quick. Tiredness tends to linger longest, especially if you'd had weeks of attacks or an infection before the operation.