Gallbladder Surgery Archive Questions

Below are Dr. Turner’s answers to Gallbladder Surgery questions
received through the Ask the Expert feature.

This content is provided for informational purposes only, and is not intended
to be a substitute for individual medical advice in diagnosing or treating a
health problem. Please consult with your physician about your specific health
care concerns.



Now displaying records 1 to 13 of 13.

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Q : 1 09/16/2009	Dr. Turner, Is the appendix checked during gallbladder surgery since these things are sometimes related. What about other areas where gallstones might have traveled? No, the appendix is in a different part of the abdomen. Occasionally, it is seen by chance, but it is rarely formally evaluated during a gallbladder operation. The gallstones cannot usually travel to the appendix. They usually stay in the gallbladder or may travel to the common bile duct, or in rare situations into the small intestine, but that is pretty uncommon.
Q : 2 07/13/2009	Dr. Turner, Is there anyway to prevent gallstones from forming in the bile ducts after the gallbladder has been removed? I had my gallbladder out in 1993 and in November of 2008 I started having problems with stones again. It is possible, although rare, to develop new primary common bile duct stones long after a gallbladder surgery. The best thing to do is to be evaluated by a gastroenterologist, particularly one who is expert in ERCP, which is one way to remove those common bile duct stones. If you would like, you can be evaluated here.
Q : 3 06/17/2009	Can you have a gallbladder attack if you have had your gallbladder removed? Once the gallbladder has been removed, it would be very very rare to develop any additional gallstones unless a portion of the gallbladder remained in place.
Q : 4 06/05/2009	Is patient able to eat the usual food after the gallstone/gallbladder surgery? Are there any complications/effects on digestion after removal of the gallbladder? Usually there is no problem with eating regular food after having gallbladder surgery. Eating a low fat diet is a good choice all around, but is not necessary.
Q : 5 06/03/2009	How long does a gallbladder surgery last with a laparoscopy? t depends on the operation, of course, but a general estimate is about an hour for the surgery itself, with additional time for anesthesia, and that sort of thing.
Q : 6 05/15/2009	I had gallbladder surgery about three years ago and I have started to feel a little pain. Would stones have accumulated outside the gall gladder? Is this common? It is very uncommon for gallstones to come back or to reoccur after the gallbladder has been removed. It is more likely that your problem is something else rather than gallstones outside the gallbladder.
Q : 7 04/04/2009	Have there been advances in MIS which permit gallbladder removal in individuals with hostile abdomens where extensive scar tissue fills the abdomen? Typically, if one has a "hostile abdomen", another surgeon has deemed it very difficult to move about in space without running into substantial scar tissue. In that situation, most surgeons would not try to do laparoscopy, unless all the other surgeries had been remote from the right upper quadrant of the abdomen.
Q : 8 12/20/2008	If it believed the surgery is not an option due to breathing difficulties in the patient, what are other options? Thank you for your question. Laparoscopic surgery requires the placement of gas-Carbon dioxide into the abdomen during the case. If someone's lungs are very bad, they may not be able to tolerate that gas. This is why some patients are not a candidate for laparoscopy, and require an open approach. There are also non-operative interventions that can be employed in an emergency in case the lung problem is short-term.
Q : 9 12/11/2008	What will be the lifetime effect to the person who has undergone cholecystectomy? Will food be digested properly? What are the after effects of gallbladder removal? Typically, patients do quite well with gallbladder surgery. The liver still makes bile which helps to digest the food, so usually food is digested without difficulty. The gallbladder effectively works as a storage sack for the bile between meals.
Q : 10 12/08/2008	Is it possible to have gallstones treated by laser rather than removal of the gallbladder? There is no laser treatment for gallstones. What you may be talking about is the laparoscopic approach which has been around since the late 80's and is the method of choice for almost all gallbladders nowadays. This involves making several small incisions instead of one big one and taking aout the gallbladder through the small incisions. Alternatively, you may be referring to using an energy source to break up the gallstones, like lithotripsy for kidney stones. This is not typically used either because the gallstones can cause more problems if they come out of the gallbladder and get stuck in the common bile duct. The best treatment for symptomatic gallstones is to take out the whole gallbladder and all the involved stones.
Q : 11 11/30/2008	I had a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in July 2008 after it was determined that my gallbladder had zero function. Since my cholecystectomy, I have gained about ten pounds. My diet has not changed and I still exercise every day. I am trying to determine if there is any kind of correction with cholecystectomy and digestion but can find none. I did find an article that taking bile salts would help. There is no correlation that I am aware of between having a gallbladder removed and weight gain, other than that people who are having gallbladder pain often eat less, especially of fatty foods, than someone without gallbladder pain as a result of the discomfort they have with those foods. Otherwise, there should be no impact on overall metabolism after a cholecystectomy.
Q : 12 10/23/2008	My mother had gallbladder surgery 2 years ago. She has attacks when eating a large meal, or eating outside food. I would like to know what type of house food I can give her. She is presently having pain. In general, before surgery, a low-fat diet can help. The gallbladder empties bile in response to a fatty meal, so gallbladder pain in many people can be improved with a low- fat diet, either to ameliorate the pain while waiting for surgery or to try to make the pain go away all together in those who want to try to avoid surgery. Vegetarian versus non vegetarian has no impact. After surgery, the patients can eat whatever they want. A low fat diet is always a good thing, in general, because it is healthier overall, but nothing in the gb surgery itself changes the kinds of foods one can eat after the surgery. Years after the gallbladder has been removed, there is probably a new issue if the patient was doing fine in the intervening years.
Q : 13 05/22/2008	Are there any procedures for removing gallstones, other than surgery? In the past, there were techniques used to dissolve gallstones or to make them smaller so they could pass out on their own, but these techniques caused more trouble, by causing blockages in important structures. Now, the treatment for most gallstone problems is surgical removal of the gallbladder. In some very sick patients, a tube can be placed from the outside to drain out the bile, but this procedure is still followed by a gallbladder removal when the patient is healthy enough.

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