Gallbladder removal - Complications (2024)

FAQs

Can gallbladder removal cause problems later in life? ›

The symptoms include fatty food intolerance, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, flatulence, indigestion, diarrhea, jaundice, and intermittent episodes of abdominal pain. Post-cholecystectomy syndrome can present early, typically in the post-operative period, but can also manifest months to years after surgery.

Yes, gallbladder removal can increase your risk of liver problems like NALFD. If you have had your gallbladder removed, you should ensure you eat a healthy diet to support your liver and other digestive organs.

Gallbladder removal does not reduce your life expectancy. The absence of a gallbladder in the body does not reduce the life expectancy of a patient. On the contrary, dietary changes that a patient makes post-removal can increase life expectancy.

However, some people experience persistent issues known as post-cholecystectomy syndrome. Long-term effects of gallbladder removal include diarrhea, fatty food intolerance, gas, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, jaundice, and intermittent episodes of abdominal pain.

Bile duct injury is perhaps the most feared complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Don't eat high-fat foods, fried and greasy foods, and fatty sauces and gravies for at least a week after surgery. Instead, choose fat-free or low-fat foods. Low-fat foods are those with no more than 3 grams of fat in a serving. Check labels and follow the serving size listed.

Overview. Dumping syndrome is a condition in which food, especially food high in sugar, moves from your stomach into your small bowel too quickly after you eat. Sometimes called rapid gastric emptying, dumping syndrome most often occurs as a result of surgery on your stomach or esophagus.

Living without a gallbladder

You can lead a perfectly normal life without a gallbladder. Your liver will still make enough bile to digest your food, but instead of being stored in the gallbladder, it drips continuously into your digestive system.

Reduce your caffeine intake

Caffeine increases the production of stomach acid, which makes your stomach contents empty faster. Without the normal amount of bile in your stomach that used to be produced by your gall bladder, you will experience more gas, bloating and pain as the food is digested.

What don't they tell you about gallbladder surgery? ›

There are risks of surgery of all sorts, things like bleeding infection, heart problems, lung problems, these in theory are all possible. Although these risks are high, more specific to gallbladder surgery, we talk about bile duct injury. We have to operate around the main bile duct, leading from the liver.

Mirizzi syndrome is a rare condition caused by the obstruction of the common bile duct or common hepatic duct by external compression from multiple impacted gallstones or a single large impacted gallstone in Hartman's pouch.

When the gallbladder is removed, special clips are used to seal the tube that connects the gallbladder to the main bile duct. But bile fluid can occasionally leak out into the tummy (abdomen) after the gallbladder is removed. Symptoms of a bile leak include tummy pain, feeling sick, a fever and a swollen tummy.

People who undergo gallbladder removal surgerymay experience changes in their body weight ahead of and following this procedure. Some people will lose weight initially but may see an increase in their BMI in the long term. A person may be able manage these weight changes with diet and exercise.

Some people develop a wound or internal infection after a gallbladder removal. Signs of a possible infection include increasing pain, swelling or redness, and pus leaking from a wound. See your GP if you develop these symptoms, as you may need a short course of antibiotics.

Living without a gallbladder

You can lead a perfectly normal life without a gallbladder. Your liver will still make enough bile to digest your food, but instead of being stored in the gallbladder, it drips continuously into your digestive system.

It's not known how many people have diarrhea after surgery to remove their gallbladders, called cholecystectomy. Studies have found that up to 20% of people undergoing gallbladder surgery develop diarrhea. In most cases, the diarrhea stops soon after the surgery. Rarely, it may last for years.

When bile backs up into your liver, as a result of gallbladder problems or bile duct problems or both, it causes inflammation and eventually scarring of the liver (cirrhosis). This will do long-term damage to your liver's functioning. Cirrhosis also causes complications to other organs.