You don’t need your gallbladder to live — and gallbladder surgery can remove the small organ to give you permanent relief from painful gallstones. At Genesis Surgery Center, skilled surgeon Yasser Salem, MD, and the experienced specialists offer gallbladder surgery on an outpatient basis. Call the Santa Ana or Foothill Ranch, California, office or click the online scheduling button to make your appointment now.
Gallbladder surgery removes your gallbladder from your body. The gallbladder is a small organ underneath the liver on your right side. It’s under four inches long and less than two inches wide.
While small, the gallbladder can cause many health problems. Because you can live without one, treatment often involves gallbladder removal, which generally involves removing the gallbladder through a group of tiny abdominal incisions.
Your gallbladder stores a digestive fluid called bile. The bile can harden and turn into pebble-like stones (gallstones). Gallstones may develop if you have excessive cholesterol or bile pigment in your bile or if you have too little bile salt.
Some gallstones don’t cause symptoms. But others can cause:
The pain occurs in sudden bouts that can last from minutes to hours. You could need gallbladder surgery if you have persistent symptoms of gallstones.
You may also need gallbladder removal if your gallstones cause complications like pancreas or gallbladder inflammation or if you have gallbladder cancer. About 80% of people diagnosed with gallbladder cancer have gallstones.
Gallbladder surgery is straightforward. It’s usually performed using minimally invasive techniques like laparoscopic surgery. With this approach, you have three or four tiny incisions around your abdomen.
Surgeons dilate the belly area using carbon dioxide. This helps them see well. A laparoscope (tube with a tiny camera) goes into one incision. The other incisions are ports for surgical tools. Surgeons watch the gallbladder and nearby organs on a monitor in real-time as they remove the gallbladder.
You can return home that day. Genesis Surgery Center gives you detailed instructions after your surgery. Most people can return to work a week or two after laparoscopic gallbladder surgery. It’s not unusual to have loose stools once in a while. This gets better in time.
Gallbladder surgery can permanently eliminate your gallstone symptoms. If you’re ready to get your life back and get past gallstone pain, call Genesis Surgery Center today