What is a Cholecystectomy?
Cholecystectomy is the removal of gallbladder. The gallbladder creates bile which can harden into stones, gallstones.
What are Gallstones?
Gallstones form when liquid stored in the gallbladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. Gallstones can block the normal flow of bile if they lodge in any ducts that carry bile from the liver to the small intestine. Fortunately, the gallbladder is an organ people can live without. Surgery to remove the gallbladder is the most common way to treat symptomatic gallstones. The surgery is called laparoscopic cholecystectomy and is done with small incisions to the abdomen and with a camera. The full recovery time is about a week.
At the Nebraska Medical Center Dr.'s Dmitry Oleynikov, Corrigan McBride and Matthew Goede perform laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Most patients are able to go home after a 23-hour observation.
