A cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. The gallbladder is an organ that aids the process of digestion. Occasionally, fluid in the gallbladder forms stones, which cause pain and sometimes infection. According to the University of California, San Diego, more than 25 million Americans have gallbladder disease. Treatment becomes necessary in about 50 percent of those cases.
Intestinal Injury
Surgeons perform more than 500,0000 gallbladder surgeries each year in the United States, according to a study published in the July 2006 issue of "Archives of Surgery." In most cases, gallbladder surgery successfully treats the symptoms of gallbladder disease. One risk of gallbladder surgery is puncture of the intestines. The chances of intestinal puncture increase if the gallbladder is swollen owing to infection. Intestinal puncture during cholecystectomy was the cause of death of former U.S. Senator John Murtha.
Pancreatitis
Acute pancreatitis is a condition in which the pancreas becomes inflamed or infected. It is a potentially serious condition that can lead to permanent organ damage. In a 2003 article published in the "Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery," Dr. Beat Gloor reports that 13 percent of patients with pancreatitis were former cholecystectomy patients.
Infection
Infection is a potential side effect of all surgeries, including cholecystectomy. Most gallbladder surgeries in the United States are performed laparoscopically. Because laparoscopic incisions are smaller, the risk of developing infection is lower compared to that in open surgery, a procedure during which a surgeon makes one large incision. The infection rate from gallbladder surgery is quite low. According to the American College of Surgeons, just 0.1 percent of cholecystectomy patients experience a postsurgical infection.
References
- University of California, San Diego: Gallbladder Surgery
- "Archives of Surgery"; Risk Management Observations From Litigation Involving Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy; Leon Morgenstern, MD; July 2006
- Inside Surgery: John Murtha's Death
- "Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery"; Incidence and Management of Biliary Pancreatitis; Beat Gloor, M.D.; June 2003
- American College of Surgeons: Cholecystectomy
