The gallbladder is our odd organ, located under the liver behind the ribs on the right side. The greenish-brownish bile produced by the liver helps digest fats. This fluid is stored in the gallbladder, where it thickens before passing through the bile ducts into the small intestine. The gallbladder is not an essential organ, so there are no negative consequences of removing it.
The most common disease of the gallbladder is the presence of gallstones, which block the flow of bile from the gallbladder, causing swelling and inflammation, which can lead to further severe abdominal pain and indigestion.
They can range in size from 1 mm to several cm. Obesity, diabetes, metabolic disorders, liver diseases may predispose to their development.
In the case of gallstones, surgery is the safest way to treat them and prevent further complications such as jaundice or pancreatitis.
It involves the surgical removal of the gallbladder through an abdominal incision. The gallbladder is a small sac-like organ located on the visceral surface of the liver behind the costal arch on the right side of the abdomen. The gallbladder’s job is to store and concentrate the bile produced by the liver.
The operation may be for a benign tumour (polyp) in the gallbladder or gallstones. Typically, gallstones cause pain under the right costal arch radiating into the scapulae, but in some cases gallstones do not cause any complaints (“silent stones”).
In all three cases, removal of the gallbladder is necessary to eliminate the spasmodic abdominal pain, prevent gallbladder inflammation and serious complications such as gallstones, biliary tract inflammation, liver abscess, pancreatitis, which is a potentially fatal bleeding and infectious form even with modern therapy, and difficult or untreatable malignant tumours of the gallbladder.
UH-guided crushing of gallstones is not expected to produce good long-term results and is not recommended. Smaller gallstones that break out of the gallbladder can cause bile duct fatty deposits, with consequent jaundice, biliary tract inflammation and potential pancreatitis.
You will most likely arrive on the day of your operation, but rarely you may need to be in bed the night before. 1-2 weeks before the planned day of surgery, we will carry out the necessary check-ups, which may include laboratory tests, ECG, X-ray and anaesthesia if necessary.
The operation is performed under general anaesthesia, the small artery supplying the gallbladder is dissected through an incision under the right rib cage and the gallbladder duct is dissected and closed with plastic clips. The gall bladder is dissected and sent for histological examination. A silicone tube (drain) is left in the surgical area and the abdominal wall is closed in layers. On average, the operation takes 30-60 minutes, which, with the preparation, anaesthesia and closing steps, is approximately 30-40 minutes longer.
Possible complications of open gall bladder removal:
Bleeding, infection, intestinal or vascular damage, the skin around the scar may become numb, which usually resolves within 2-3 months, hernia at the site of the abdominal incision, deep vein thrombosis.
After waking up, you can expect to experience some discomfort, and we will do our best to minimise this, or if it has developed, to alleviate it.
The incision may be painful after the operation and the wound will be anaesthetised as a final step in the operation. Painkillers will gradually become unnecessary over time.
Most people can be back to work within 1-2 weeks.
Please avoid the immediate post-operative period:
