Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsPurposeHow to PrepareWhat to ExpectRecoveryLong-Term Care
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Purpose
How to Prepare
What to Expect
Recovery
Long-Term Care
Gallbladder surgery (cholecystectomy) entails the removal of the gallbladder, a pear-shaped organ located in the upper right side of the abdomen that storesbile. Gallbladder surgery is used to treat several gallbladder-related conditions, most commonly gallbladder inflammation (cholecystitis) fromgallstones.
Portra / Getty Images
What Is Gallbladder Surgery?
While the surgery can be scheduled in advance, in cases of severe inflammation, gallbladder surgery is performed emergently.
Gallbladder Disease
Various Surgical Approaches
There are a few surgical approaches that may be used to remove a patient’s gallbladder.
In terms of hospitalization after surgery, the open approach always requires a hospital stay. With the laparoscopic or robotic-assisted approach, select patients may be able to go home on the same day of surgery.
Overall, laparoscopic gallbladder surgery is the preferred approach for gallbladder surgery. When compared to open surgery, it is associated with less bleeding and a shorter recovery time.
There are patient scenarios, however, in which open surgery is the necessary approach. For example:
When comparing laparoscopic gallbladder surgery to robotic-assisted gallbladder surgery, the robotic-assisted approach is more costly and requires a slighter longer operation time. The robotic-assisted approach has also not been found to be more effective or safer than the laparoscopic gallbladder surgery for noncancerous gallbladder disease.
Contraindications
Contraindications to undergoing gallbladder surgery include:
Potential Risks
While gallbladder surgery is generally low-risk, some potential surgical risks include:
Purpose of Gallbladder Surgery
The purpose of gallbladder surgery is to treat medical conditions that affect your gallbladder, such as:
You can live a healthy life without a gallbladder; bile that would normally be stored there will simply travel straight to the small intestine.
If your surgery is scheduled, your surgeon will give you various preparatory instructions, such as:
What to Expect on the Day of Surgery
What happens during your surgery depends on the approach the surgeon uses. Regardless of the approach used, the procedure should take about one to two hours.
To give you a sense of what’s involved, here is a brief walk-through of how laparoscopic gallbladder surgery (the most common procedure) is done:
In the recovery area, a nurse will monitor your vital signs (e.g., blood pressure and heart rate) and help control common post-surgical symptoms, like pain and nausea.
If you underwent a laparoscopic or robotic-assisted cholecystectomy, you may stay in the hospital for one or two nights or be discharged from the recovery room after around six hours.In this case, you will need to have a family member or friend drive you home where you will finish recovering.
If you underwent open surgery, you will be taken to a hospital room where you will stay for approximately two to four days.
As you recover in the hospital, you can expect the following:
Once discharged from the recovery room or hospital, you will have various post-operative instructions to follow at home.
These may include:
Fullrecovery from open gallbladder surgerytakes about six weeks; recovery from a laparoscopic surgery takes about four weeks.
When to Seek Medical Attention:When recovering from gallbladder surgery, be sure to contact your healthcare provider if you experience any of the following symptoms:Persistent or severe abdominal pain, cramping, or swellingFever or chillsRedness, swelling, bleeding, or abnormal drainage at the incision site(s)Signs ofjaundice(yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes)No bowel movement or gas for three daysNausea or vomiting
When to Seek Medical Attention:
When recovering from gallbladder surgery, be sure to contact your healthcare provider if you experience any of the following symptoms:Persistent or severe abdominal pain, cramping, or swellingFever or chillsRedness, swelling, bleeding, or abnormal drainage at the incision site(s)Signs ofjaundice(yellowing of your skin and the whites of your eyes)No bowel movement or gas for three daysNausea or vomiting
When recovering from gallbladder surgery, be sure to contact your healthcare provider if you experience any of the following symptoms:
To ensure that you arehealing and recovering well after surgeryand to monitor for complications, it’s important to attend all follow-up appointments with your surgeon. These appointments are usually scheduled at two weeks and then four or six weeks after surgery.
While the goal of gallbladder surgery is to alleviate symptoms of gallstones (in most cases), a small subset of patients continues to have symptoms after surgery, including nausea, vomiting, bloating, jaundice, diarrhea, or abdominal pain.
This phenomenon is termedpost-cholecystectomy syndrome (PCS), and it may occur early (hours to days) or later (weeks to months) after the gallbladder is removed. Since there are multiple potential etiologies that may cause this syndrome, your surgeon may need to perform imaging of your abdomen as well as blood tests at your follow-up appointments.
A Word From Verywell
While gallbladder surgery is a common operation, it nevertheless poses risks. If you (or a loved one) are undergoing this surgery, be sure to adhere to your post-operative instructions, and reach out to your surgical team with any questions or concerns.
15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Sinha R, Gurwara AK, Gupta SC.Laparoscopic cholecystectomy under spinal anesthesia: a study of 3492 patients.J Laparoendosc Adv Surg Tech A. 2009 Jun;19(3):323-7. doi:10.1089/lap.2008.0393
Gomes CA, Junior CS, Di Saviero S, et al.Acute calculous cholecystitis: Review of current best practices.World J Gastrointest Surg.2017 May 27; 9(5): 118–126. doi:10.4240/wjgs.v9.i5.118
Haribhakti SP, Mistry JH.Techniques of laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Nomenclature and selection.J Minim Access Surg. 2015;11(2):113-8. doi:10.4103/0972-9941.140220
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Cholecystectomy.
Han C, Shan X, Yao L, et al.Robotic-assisted versus laparoscopic cholecystectomy for benign gallbladder diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Surg Endosc.2018 Nov;32(11):4377-4392. doi:10.1007/s00464-018-6295-9.
Soper NJ, Malladi P.Laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Ashley SW, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA: UpToDate.
Radunovic M, Lazovic R, Popovic N, et al.Complications of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: Our Experience from a Retrospective Analysis.Open Access Maced J Med Sci.2016 Dec 15; 4(4): 641–646. doi:10.3889/oamjms.2016.128
Wiles R, Thoeni RF, Barbu ST, et al.Management and follow-up of gallbladder polyps: Joint guidelines between the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR), European Association for Endoscopic Surgery and other Interventional Techniques (EAES), International Society of Digestive Surgery – European Federation (EFISDS) and European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE).Eur Radiol.2017; 27(9): 3856–3866. doi:10.1007/s00330-017-4742-y
American College of Surgeons.Cholecystectomy: Surgical Removal of the Gallbladder.
Gallbladder Removal Surgery (Cholecystectomy). Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons.
Gurusamy KS, Koti R, Davidson BR.Routine abdominal drainage versus no abdominal drainage for uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy.Cochrane Database Syst Rev.2013 Sep 3;(9):CD006004. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006004.pub4
University of Washington School of Medicine and Public Health.Laparoscopic Gallbladder Surgery for Gallstones.
Dempsey DT, Agrawal S.Open cholecystectomy. Ashley SW, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA: UpToDate.
Arora D, Kaushik R, Kaur R, Sachdev A.Post-cholecystectomy syndrome: A new look at an old problem.J Minim Access Surg. 2018 Jul-Sep; 14(3): 202–207. doi:10.4103/jmas.JMAS_92_17
Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (Gallbladder Removal). Cleveland Clinic.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
