Gallbladder Surgery
When you need gallbladder surgery, having a surgeon who is a board-certified gallbladder disease expert is essential for a successful outcome. At Arizona Preferred Surgeons in the Arrowhead area in Glendale, Arizona, the area’s leading gallbladder disease experts provide progressive, evidence-based, minimally invasive surgery to help you manage your disease and break away from its painful symptoms.
Gallbladder Surgery Q & A
What is gallbladder surgery?
Gallbladder surgery is a procedure to remove your gallbladder. This procedure, called cholecystectomy, has several different forms. The board-certified team at Arizona Preferred Surgeons uses modern, evidence-based, minimally invasive approaches to effectively manage your gallbladder disease.
When might I need gallbladder surgery?
The main reason for gallbladder surgery is gallstones — tiny stones made of a digestive fluid called bile — in either the gallbladder or bile duct. Whether the stones stay in the gallbladder or get stuck in a bile duct, they can cause serious problems.
Gallstones can lead to gallbladder attacks, which cause sudden pain in your abdomen, upper back, or right shoulder, along with nausea and vomiting. Some people experience jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes).
Some other reasons that you might need gallbladder surgery include large gallbladder polyps (growths that protrude inside the gallbladder wall), pancreatitis (pancreatic inflammation), and cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation) caused by gallstones.
How does gallbladder surgery work?
The team of board-certified surgeons at Arizona Preferred Surgeons uses the most up-to-date evidence-based approaches to surgical management of gallbladder disease. For the most part, the surgeons perform minimally invasive surgery for gallbladder removal.
To do this, your surgeon makes a group of buttonhole-sized ports (incisions) in your abdomen. They insert a special miniature video camera into one port. The video feed appears on a high-definition monitor your surgeon views during the surgery.
Your surgeon inserts thin surgical instruments through the other ports, using the video to guide their placement. They make precise cuts to detach the gallbladder and remove it through the small incisions.
In some cases, open gallbladder surgery with a longer single incision is the best approach. Your surgeon will recommend open surgery if you have severe gallbladder inflammation, significant scar tissue from earlier surgeries, or other concern that make the laparoscopy inadequate or too risky.
Can I live without my gallbladder?
After your gallbladder surgery, you won’t have a gallbladder anymore — and that won’t affect your life in any way. The only real difference is that you’ll finally escape the gallbladder attacks.
Your liver produces the bile you need for digestion. Without the gallbladder that held a supply of bile, the liver excretes the bile continuously into your digestive system.
To learn more about the latest minimally invasive surgery for gallbladder disease, call Arizona Preferred Surgeons now or click on the provided booking tool.