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Overview

 


What Is The Gallbladder ?

The gallbladder is a small sac located under the liver. It stores and concentrates the bile produced in the liver, which aids in the digestion of fats. Bile is released from the gallbladder to help with the digestion of food, especially fats, in the upper small intestine. Conditions which slow or obstruct the flow of bile out of the gallbladder result in gallbladder disease.


What Are The Symptoms Of Gallstones ?

Symptoms caused by gallstones are typically pain in the abdomen, usually right under the right ribcage and sometimes right under the breastbone. When this pain comes and goes, often after eating fatty or spicy food, and is due to gallstones, the condition is called "biliary colic." When the pain persists more than a few hours and keeps getting worse, it is called "cholecystitis "


Nausea and a bloating sensation are also common with gallstones, and yellow jaundice of the skin may develop. Jaundice is a sign of a gallstone that may have escaped the gallbladder and is now wreaking havoc farther on down the digestive system. This can lead to severe complications, like pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas.

Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder, which is located in the abdomen beneath the right side of the liver. Gallbladder problems are usually the result of gallstones. These stones may block the flow of bile from your gallbladder, causing the organ to swell. Other causes include cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder) and cholangitis (inflammation of the bile duct). Gall stanes are commonly associated with excessive weight. Candiates that have undergone gastric surgery carry a higher risk of developing gallstones.


Operation


Your surgeon will make two or three small cuts (about 5-10mm long) on the skin, above, or just below, your navel. Using a hollow needle, passed through or near your navel, carbon dioxide gas is pumped into the abdomen. This creates more room for your surgeon to work in and makes it easier to see the internal organs.

The laparoscope (a long, thin telescope with a light and camera lens at the tip) is then passed through one of the cuts. Your surgeon will examine the internal organs by looking directly through the laparoscope, or at pictures it sends to a video screen. Specially adapted surgical instruments are passed through the other cuts to help move the internal structures so that your surgeon can see around them and to cut and remove the gall bladder. X-ray pictures may be taken to look at the bile duct during the operation, so that your surgeon can find out if any gallstones are blocking the bile duct.

Afterwards, the instruments are removed and the gas is allowed to escape through the laparoscope. The skin cuts are closed with dissolvable stitches and covered with a dressing. The operation takes 60 to 90 minutes.

Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder, a small pear-shaped sac that is located directly beneath the liver in the upper right side of the abdomen. The gallbladder's main function is to store bile, which is produced by the liver, and to release it as needed for digestion. The gallbladder's function is important, but it is not an essential organ.

Surgical removal is the most common therapy for gallbladder disorders. Gallstones (small, solid formations composed of cholesterol and bile salts) can cause problems in the gallbladder and the entire biliary system, including the pancreas.






















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