Type of Surgery
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Last updated: 11/24/2009
The complication rate is less than 0.5% with open cholecystectomy and about 1% with laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The primary complication with the open technique is infection, whereas bile leak and hemorrhage are the most common complications associated...
with the laparoscopic technique. The overall mortality rate associated with cholecystectomy is less than 1%. However, the rate of mortality in the elderly is higher.
In a small minority of cases, symptoms will persist in patients who receive cholecystectomy. This has been named the post-cholecystectomy syndrome and usually results from functional bowel disorder, errors in diagnosis, technical errors, overlooked common bile duct stones, recurrence of common bile duct stones, or the spasm of a structure called the sphincter of Oddi.
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This video shows precisely what a surgeon sees during a laparoscopic cholescystectomy. A laparoscopic cholescystectomy is gallbladder removal surgery using small incisions and cameras rather than a large abdominal incision. This video may be difficult for some viewers since it shows surgery on actual human tissue.
In a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, four small incisions are made in the abdomen (A). The abdomen is filled with carbon dioxide, and the surgeon views internal structures with a video monitor (B). The gallbladder is located and cut with laparoscopic scissors (C). It is then removed through an incision (D). (Illustration by GGS Inc.)
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Cholecystectomy (pronounced /ˌkɔləsɪsˈtɛktəmi/, plural: cholecystectomies) is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. Despite the development of non-surgical techniques, it is the most common method for treating symptomatic gallstones, although there are other indications for the procedure, including carcinoma. Each year more than 500,000 Americans have gallbladder surgery. Surgery options include the standard procedure, called laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and an older more invasive procedure, called open cholecystectomy. A cholecystectomy is performed when attempts to treat gallstones with ultrasound to shatter the stones (lithotripsy) or medications to dissolve them have not proved feasible.
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Circumcision is a controversial topic, because there is so much misinformation and emotion included as fact; the facts are fairly straightforward and there are some definite biological advantages to circumcision.
-Gerald McMorrow
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