Gallstones can form inside the gallbladder slowly across many years. Some of the things that contribute to this phenomenon are high cholesterol intake and low amounts of physical activity. They don’t usually present problems for the affected person until the stones clog the ducts and impair function while inducing excruciating pain. It can be bad enough that surgery is merited for the situation. This is especially true if other attempts with medication and sonic shock therapy do not work. Individuals who wish to undergo surgery should take it over with their doctors in order to set the right expectations and find out if this is the right course of action.
Procedure
This can be done in a number of ways. The traditional route is open surgery wherein a big incision in made across the abdomen to expose the gall bladder and make things easy to take out. Another one is called Gallstone Surgery North Shore which involves the use of much smaller incisions to make way for instruments and a video camera for monitoring. Air or carbon dioxide is used to inflate the inside of the abs to make things easier to see through the screen. General anesthesia is necessary to minimize discomfort. The whole process takes about 2 hours or so.
Recovery
Thanks to the smaller cuts, patients can expect to recover faster with the laparoscopic surgery compared to the open surgery. In fact, the procedure may be done as an outpatient activity wherein the patient is free to leave within the day. However, it might be better to stay for a day or two at the hospital to make sure that the wounds heal well before going out and about. This is especially true for those with diabetes, advanced age, or other conditions. Normal activities can resume in about a week or so. There will be some soreness after the operation but it should be tolerable. It is possible to eat anything afterwards.
Risks
Open surgery is falling out of favor because of the long recovery time that takes several weeks. However, it may be necessary if the surgeons find inflammation, injury, bleeding, or scar tissue. The risk of infection is also higher. As for laparoscopic surgery, there are still small risks of internal bleeding, injury to the small intestines, and infection of incisions. The risks of general anesthesia should also be considered. Although this will usually solve the gallstone problem once and for all, there are cases wherein stones still form in the common bile duct.
For more information, contact Gallstone Surgery North Shore specialists.
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