Gallbladder Surgery

Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small organ under your liver. It is on the upper right side of your belly or abdomen. The gallbladder stores a digestive juice called bile which is made in the liver.

There are 2 types of surgery to remove the gallbladder:

• Open (traditional) method. In this method, 1 cut (incision) about 4 to 6 inches long is made in the upper right-hand side of your belly. The surgeon finds the gallbladder and takes it out through the incision.

• Laparoscopic method. This method uses 3 to 4 very small incisions. It uses a long, thin tube called a laparoscope. The tube has a tiny video camera and surgical tools. The tube, camera and tools are put in through the incisions. The surgeon does the surgery while looking at a TV monitor. The gallbladder is removed through 1 of the incisions.

Gallstone Ileus

Gallstone ileus is a rare cause of intestinal obstruction, occurring in less than 5% of patients who present with a mechanical small bowel obstruction. Gallstone ileus is an unusual complication of cholelithiasis. It is caused by the impaction of a gallstone in the small bowel, usually after passing through a biliary-enteric fistula typically formed between the gallbladder and duodenum.