Type of Surgery
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Last updated: 11/24/2009
The most common medical treatment for gallstones is the surgical removal of the gallbladder (cholecsytectomy). Risks associated with gallbladder removal are low, but include damage to the bile ducts, residual gallstones in the bile ducts, or injury...
to the surrounding organs. With laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the bile duct damage rate is approximately 0.5%.
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The narrated 3D animations shows the function of the gallbladder and explains how gallstones can be formed from cholesterol and bile salts. If gall stones block the outflow of bile from the gallbladder, a cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) may need to be performed.
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Also known as cholelithotomy, gallstone removal is the medical procedure that rids the gallbladder of calculus buildup.
Surgery to remove the entire gallbladder with all its stones is usually the best treatment, provided the patient is able to tolerate the procedure. Over the past decade, a new technique of removing the gallbladder using a laparoscope has resulted in quicker recovery and much smaller surgical incisions than the six-inch gash under the right ribs that used to be standard. Not everyone is a candidate for this approach.
If a stone is lodged in the bile ducts, additional surgery must be done to remove it. After surgery, the surgeon will ordinarily leave in a drain to collect bile until the system is healed. The drain can also be used to inject contrast material and take x rays during or after surgery.
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It's a controversial arena -- the PSA is a marker of prostate bulk and size, but it's highly expressed in benign prostate disease as well as cancer -- so in that context it's not a specific marker.
-Arul Chinnaiyan
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