Is Gallbladder Removal/Gall Stone surgery dangerous?

Answer 1

no , if you have to have it don't be afraid of it .safe.

Answer 2

These days it can be relatively simple as it can be done with laser surgery if there are no complications. I had it done over 15 years ago and it was a bit more complicated because cutting was involved, but besides the usual recovery grogginess even it was relatively simple.

All surgery is dangerous to a point, but this is one of the least dangerous if you have a good doctor and hospital. And, believe me, you'll fee so much better afterwards ... no gallstone attacks!

Good luck,

Answer 3

The short answer to your question is that gallbladder removal is an extremely common operation and the complication rate is very very low. It is a safe operation.

That being said, I can never give a short answer when a long one would do just as well! :)

The long answer begins with a short treatment of the history of this operation. Up until the late 80's, this operation, just like all others, was performed by making an incision in the skin and muscle, opening the abdominal cavity, accessing the organ of interest and performing the surgical procedure. For the gallbladder, the appropriate incision was a diagnoal line parallel to the lower edge of the rib cage on the right side. The length of the incision depended upon several things, including the thickness of the patient's abdominal wall, the amount of inflammation around the gallbladder, and the surgeon's "comfort zone" in regard to working down inside a deep hole. The most important principle of surgery has always been that you cannot operate safely on what you cannot adequately visualize.

The operation to remove the gallbladder typically put people in the hospital for 4 or 5 days, healing a big incision, taking pain medication, and awaiting the return of normal bowel function with the ability to tolerate oral nutrition and have bowel movements. For this reason, this operation was only done when there was a clear indication that the patient would be better off WITH a surgery like this than without. Basically, people would wait until they were flat-out miserable with gallbladder pain, or frankly sick with gallbladder inflammation, bile obstruction or infection.

In the late 80's, the advent of laparoscopic surgery swept across the nation, and by the 90's, it had rooted in every surgical center in the country. The first operation consistantly performed using laparoscopic technique was the cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal). This operation was so well tolerated, that the length of hospital stay went down from 4 to 3 to 2... to 1 day. Now, many people undergo this operation and go home the same day, a concept unheard of for operations inside the abdomen prior to the use of the laparoscope.

The laparoscopic operation came to be viewed as such a moderate thing to do, that the point at which surgeons would suggest operations began to shift. Instead of waiting till there was no way that the patient would be able to go on living a normal life without an operation, surgeons began to operate earlier and earlier in the otherwise long-term course of the gallstone disease process. It eventually became so that surgeons would offer elective removal of the gallbladder based on a diagnosis of gallstones and the history of a pain attack. The result of this was that gallbladders were EASIER to operate on because they were less inflammed. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder using scope technique) became even safer.

The standard now, is to perform the operation laparoscopically, and doing the older style open operation is reserved for those situations where for one reason or another, laparoscopic technique isn't feasable. Every surgeon has their own triggers for making this decision, based on skills, equipment limitations, and considerations regarding the patient's health. Tremendous amounts of data regarding this technique now exist. The operation is statistically very very safe.

There are interesting differences between the kinds of problems that can occur, comparing open operations and laparoscopic ones. Open operations typically cause more injury to the patient and the types of complications involve how people who are more injured and are more sick tend to have more infections and hospital problems after surgery. Also, bigger incisions carry a larger risk of incision break-down and hernia over the long term. Bigger operations also bleed more and have a higher rate of transfusion requirement.

Laparoscopic operations, on the other hand, have unique complications that are associated with their equipment. There can be injuries associated with making the initial laparoscopic entry. If these happen and they are observed immediately, they can be simply remedied, but if they occur but are missed, they can cause significant complications. For laparoscopic gallbladder removal, there can be occassional complications regarding the bile duct. These are much more common in emergency surgery for the gallbladder than for elective surgery, and on the whole, these occur very very infrequently. However, they occur more frequently with laparscopic than with open surgery.

In total, significantly less than 1% of people who undergo an elective laparoscopic gallbladder procedure have complications of any serious nature. and less than 5% have any sort of complication at all, including things like a small wound infection needing a course of antibiotics, or things of that nature. For people who undergo emergency surgery, the total rate of complications is significantly higher, but it is dominated by minor complications such as skin infection. The major complications are still quite rare. The sickest people who are at risk for the greatest complications tend, still, to be "converted" to open surgery in order to make use of the larger instruments and sponges and suction that can be applied with the hands. Converting a laparoscopic operation to an open operation is not considered to be a complication by most surgeons, instead it is viewed as a saftey conscious decision made based on the qualities of the situation at that time.

Answer 4

Nope dear its not......this is very commonly practised surgery especialy for ladies n its prognosis is very good,My granny had that surgery years back n she is fine.infact her case was complicated as her gall bladder got ruptured but still she did survive by the grace f God n doing very good ..its been 20 or more years now for that surgery.
medicaly speaking too its not at all dangerous provided one is fit for surgery n has no risk factors which is counted during anesthesia and bleeding process etc.

Answer 5

There is always slight danger to any surgical procedure, but the risk is minimal. Now with button hole surgery rehabilitation is rapid.

Answer 6

the doctor has probably done a thousand but the biggest risk is post surgery infection

Answer 7

It is more dangerous to avoid the surgery if you need it.

Answer 8

bladder stone surgery is dangerous?