Gallbladder - keep or remove

[HughG]

Has anyone had similar excruciating pains after gall bladder removal?

[Toma500]

I would still get it done i had similar symptoms pain to you over a 18 month period put up with it till i had a particularly bad one missed a flight to benidorm with the boys ended up kept in hospital ,
Anyhoo had it removed privately on company medical insurance surgeon said afterwards it was amongst the worst he had seen . Operation itself was a doddle no after effects .

[gl20]

So all confirmed. Passed my COVID test and need to be at the hospital for 07:10 tomorrow. Thanks for the replies this past week. Will try to remember (anaesthetic notwithstanding) to post after it’s done.

[Deep Thought]

gl20 said:

So all confirmed. Passed my COVID test and need to be at the hospital for 07:10 tomorrow. Thanks for the replies this past week. Will try to remember (anaesthetic notwithstanding) to post after it’s done.

Great! It will be good to have it over you.



I was in for 0700 or so, they took the OAPs first and I ended up not going down to theatre to around 14.30. Got home that evening.

[gl20]

All done. Never had general before. Was dreaming it was the night before and was discussing with the wife so honestly thought it was a wind up when they said ‘wake up, it’s done’!

Bit of discomfort now but nothing major. Certainly nothing like the discomfort of a gallstone attack! Will send another update when things more settled.

(If I add it to a jar of truffles for the MIL, do you think she’d fall for it? )

[CQ8]

HughG said:

Has anyone had similar excruciating pains after gall bladder removal?

Yes, I had exactly that. Terrible pain after my gall bladder was removed. Turns out there was a stone in my bile duct which was to big to pass out into my stomach. So it would block the duct and cause the bile to go back up to my liver, in turn sending my liver function off the scale when they did a blood test.

To fix this, I was sedated and they did an endoscopy and cut the ring of muscle from the bile duct into the stomach and scraped everything out.

The consultant said I was very lucky it didn't cause acute pancreatitis, which can be fatal.

[HughG]

CQ8 said:

HughG said:

Has anyone had similar excruciating pains after gall bladder removal?

Yes, I had exactly that. Terrible pain after my gall bladder was removed. Turns out there was a stone in my bile duct which was to big to pass out into my stomach. So it would block the duct and cause the bile to go back up to my liver, in turn sending my liver function off the scale when they did a blood test.

To fix this, I was sedated and they did an endoscopy and cut the ring of muscle from the bile duct into the stomach and scraped everything out.

The consultant said I was very lucky it didn't cause acute pancreatitis, which can be fatal.

Sorry to hear that, was that immediately after the removal?

It is my wife who is suffering. She had her gallbladder removed 2 years ago, and still sporadically has attacks of pain. The only difference is previously the pain was under the ribs on the right, and now it is usually directly under the solar-plexus.

She has followed up with the consultant, they have done and MRI and endoscopy and confirmed no residual stones. She’s been discharged and told to live with it. Diet and stress seem to be the triggers. It is puzzling.

[solo2]

HughG said:

Has anyone had similar excruciating pains after gall bladder removal?

I had mine removed over 20 years ago and months later the same type of pain returned. I went back to the Consultant who said impossible to be the same issue as no gallbladder now and over a year years it eventually subsided.

No idea what caused it though

[Stan the Bat]

A bit of a thread revival.

Just been told I have to have my Gallbladder removed.

After a year of investigation with CT scans and colonoscopy they gave me an MRCP scan and found what they called 'sandy deposits' .

These caused pancreatitis and jaundice ( and a hell of a lot of pain ).

Was in hospital from friday to monday and there were 3 or 4 people in the same ward with identical problems--obviously pretty common then.

Anyone else recently suffered with this ?

[d_a_n1979]

Stan the Bat said:

A bit of a thread revival.

Just been told I have to have my Gallbladder removed.

After a year of investigation with CT scans and colonoscopy they gave me an MRCP scan and found what they called 'sandy deposits' .

These caused pancreatitis and jaundice ( and a hell of a lot of pain ).

Was in hospital from friday to monday and there were 3 or 4 people in the same ward with identical problems--obviously pretty common then.

Anyone else recently suffered with this ?

Yes!

Last May; 2 weeks after an operation under general and then spent a week in hospital via A&E with sever cholecystitis and jaundice; horrendous pain, on IV everything until it calmed down. Ultrasound and MRI confirmed I had numerous stones and 'biliary sludge' that needed to be cleared but due to the infection, that needed to be calmed first before they'd do any procedure of 'retrieval' etc

Fortunately my body decided otherwise and I had a violent vomiting episode which cleared the blockage whilst I was in the hospital

5 days later I was home; still yellow but bilirubin levels had really dropped, so they were happy to discharge me and send me home, thankfully

6 weeks later I had a cholecystectomy, in & out in the day - best thing that could be done...

Unfortunately I am now suffering from PCS and waiting for another MRI as it's a potential that I've still got a blockage somewhere that's now reared its ugly head... Sods law more so after my final op in Jan just gone and now I'm off all the pain meds; my systems caught up and this has been discovered

Deffo get your gallbladder out; it'll only happen again...

Fingers crossed you come out of it unscathed like most folk do... It's sods law if you develop PCS unfortunately

I started a separate thread here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Stan the Bat]

Thanks for that.

I am going to have it out -they told me I have to . I have no problem with that.

Unfortunately I am a bit of an awkward case as I have had two major operations in the same area for bowel cancer and that has left me with a lot of scar tissue, so the op wont be straight forward..

Have to meet the consultant in 3-4 weeks and op will be in 6-8 weeks.

Just being careful what I eat and drink as dont want that awful pain coming back.


Thanks for the link to your other thread.

[Nick Forest]

Had mine removed 40 years ago, severe jaundice caused major problems. No keyhole surgery back then and a nice foot long scar as a reward.

One note of caution…there are cases now starting to become more common of something called “EPI” or Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency.

Whilst not exclusive to those who’ve had gall bladder removal there are concerns in some medical arenas that a cholecystectomy can trigger EPI in later years. I’ve been diagnosed with EPI since 2020 but I’d say I was showing symptoms approx 20 years ago…I wouldn’t wish EPI on anyone

Little option to not have your gall bladder removed but as you age be aware of the risk of EPI.