Lets talk about Gallbladder disease

Gallbladder disease is very common! 

The main cause of gallbladder disease is gallstones. 

The most common issues caused by gallstones are:  

• Biliary colic: Pain in the upper part of the abdomen and sometimes in the shoulders and back. The pain normally follows eating (fatty food normally but not exclusively). The pain is associated sometimes with feeling and being sick. The pain is caused by gallstones blocking the tube that takes bile from the gallbladder into the main bile tube.  

• Cholecystitis (infection in the gallbladder): when the blockage of the gallbladder persists, an infection develops in the gallbladder. In addition to the pain, nausea and vomiting, patients get high temperature, and their blood tests show signs of infection. Frequently patient with cholecystitis attend their doctor surgery or the emergency department to get pain killers and antibiotics.

Gallstones can slip from the gallbladder into the main bile tube. That causes more significant issues: 

• Jaundice 

• Cholangitis (infection in the bile tube) 

• Pancreatitis (inflammation in the pancreas).
• Some of the issues caused by gallstones are life threatening.

The best treatment for gallstones in patients who are fit is to have the gallbladder removed. Due to the waiting lists in the NHS, many patients have been opting for private surgery recently. Waiting for long might result in further complications of gallstones and might make the surgery more difficult. I aim to accommodate patients who have gallstone disease for surgery within a few days to a few weeks. 

Surgery for the gallbladder is done under general anaesthesia and is normally done as keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery. The surgery requires 4 or 5 small cuts in the tummy. It generally takes 45 minutes (15 minutes to 2 hours) to complete. Many patients go home on the same day. 

Some patients require further investigation (blood tests and scans) before surgery. Some patients require some interventions before surgery (for example removal of gallstones from the bile tube with endoscopy). The surgery might also be more complex especially if patients had several episodes of infection and if they waited for long before the surgery. 

If you wish to have more information regarding gallbladder surgery or to book a consultation please get in touch here. 

There is also more information about gallbladder surgery here.