Gall Bladder

Personally performed operations (as of 2018): 1297
Total of performed visceral operations: over 14.000

Surgery of the gall bladder is mostly necessary because of stones and/or inflammation of the gall bladder. In rarer cases, it can be caused by malignant tumors. Apart from very rare instances, stones and inflammations can be treated laparoscopically. The inflammation has to be very strong to make a minimally invasive removal impossible. In those cases, open surgery must be performed.
On suspicion of a tumor, open surgery should be preferred, as some liver tissue is connected to the gall bladder and has to be removed as well. Moreover, all lymph nodes in the area of the so-called “liver portal” (Lnn. portales) have to be removed.

Possible complications

Next to some small and insignificant complications, such as haematoma or abscission in the area of the gall bladder, the more serious and – if it occurs – consequential injury of the common bile duct has to be mentioned. Its probability is very small, between 0.3 and 0.4 percent. If the common bile duct is injured, a jaundice occurs, in which case a rapid search for the location of the injury has do be performed. Sometimes, an additional operation has to be performed. In general however, minimally invasive gall bladder surgery is very safe and rarely associated with complications. In most cases, the patients an immediate relief from their previous – often longstanding – pain.