What happens during gallbladder removal
If you're having surgery to remove your gallbladder (cholecystectomy), you'll either go into hospital on the day of the operation or the day before.
You should not eat or drink anything before the operation so that your stomach is empty. Follow any instructions you're given about how long before your operation you should not eat or drink for.
Just before the operation, a nurse will take you to the operating theatre where a member of your care team will ask you a few questions and do some routine checks.
You'll have a general anaesthetic so you'll be asleep during the operation and unable to feel any pain or discomfort.
The operation usually takes about 1 hour.
Keyhole surgery
Most people have keyhole surgery (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) if they need to have their gallbladder removed.
The main steps of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy are:
- The surgeon makes a small cut in your tummy, usually just below your belly button, and a few other small cuts on the right-hand side of your tummy (some surgeons use a technique where only a single cut is made).
- Air is pumped into your tummy to allow the surgeon to see inside.
- A thin, flexible tube with a camera inside (a laparoscope) is passed into your tummy so video images can be shown on a screen.
- The surgeon uses small surgical tools to remove your gallbladder. These are passed through the cuts in your tummy.
- After your gallbladder has been removed, the air is let out of your tummy and the cuts are closed with stitches and a dressing is placed on top.
- Following the operation, you'll stay in a recovery room until you're fully awake, where you may be given medicines to help with the pain.
Open surgery
Open surgery is sometimes used to remove the gallbladder. It’s only used if the gallbladder is very inflamed, or if it’s not possible to remove it using keyhole surgery.
During open surgery, a single larger cut is made in your tummy, which means you may have more pain afterwards and take longer to recover.