Cholecystectomy

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a less invasive method to remove the gallbladder.

The surgery to remove the gallbladder is called a cholecystectomy (chol-e-cys-tec-toe-mee). The gallbladder is removed through a 5- to 8-inch-long incision, or cut, in your abdomen. During an open cholecystectomy, the cut is made just below your ribs on the right side and goes to just below your waist.

A less invasive way to remove the gallbladder is called laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This surgery uses a laparoscope (an instrument used to see the inside of your body) to remove the gallbladder. It is performed through several small incisions rather than through one large incision, usually 4 incisions, each one inch or less in length.

A laparoscope is a small, thin tube with a camera on its end that is put into your body through a tiny cut made just below your navel. Your surgeon can then see your gallbladder on a television screen and do the surgery with tools inserted in three other small cuts made in the right upper part of your abdomen. Your gallbladder is then taken out through one of the incisions.

With laparoscopic cholecystectomy, you may return to work sooner, have less pain after surgery, and have a shorter hospital stay and a shorter recovery time. Surgery to remove the gallbladder with a laparoscope does not require that the muscles of your abdomen be cut, as they are in open surgery. The incision is much smaller, which makes recovery go quicker with less pain.

With laparoscopic cholecystectomy, you probably will only have to stay in the hospital for a few hours or overnight. With open cholecystectomy, you would have to stay in the hospital for about 5 days. Because the incisions are what cause most of the postsurgical pain, the smaller incisions with laparoscopic cholecystectomy result in substantially less pain.

If you have previously had surgery in the area of your gallbladder, if you tend to bleed a lot, or if you have any problem that would make it hard for your doctor to see your gallbladder, an open surgery may be better for you. Sometimes, your surgeon may begin doing the procedure laparoscopically and then convert to an open procedure. Your doctor will decide which type of surgery is best for you.

Complications may include bleeding, infection, and injury to the duct (tube) that carries bile from your gallbladder to your duodenum (small intestine). Also, during laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the intestines or major blood vessels may be injured when the instruments are inserted into the abdomen. All of these complications are rare.