Dr. Villarreal, who has been practicing medicine in Jackson since 1995, works at Jackson Surgical Associates with Dr. Dean Currie, Dr. David Laird and Dr. Daniel Day. More information about the ciinic...

Visit www.jacksonsurgical.com, which has links to several health websites, for more information about the gallbladder and laparoscopic gallbladder surgery.

Dr. David Villarreal does laparoscopic gallbladder surgery at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.

Gallstone surgery much easier on the patient these days

If gallstones are causing you pain, the good news is that you most likely are not facing major surgery to have your gallbladder removed.

Instead, the surgeon probably will perform laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, also called a cholecystectomy, to remove your gallbladder through small incisions under your rib cage. Over the last two decades, laparoscopic gallbladder surgery has revolutionized the way surgeons treat gallbladder problems.

Laparoscopic gallbladder surgery “is one of the most common surgeries we do now,” says Dr. David Villarreal, a board-certified general surgeon with Jackson Surgical Associates. The surgery is less invasive, making recovery quicker for the patient, he explained.

The gallbladder is a small organ beneath the liver that stores bile made by the liver before it is needed to break down fats in the small intestines.

A common reason for needing gallbladder surgery is the development of gallstones, often formed by cholesterol. (Having gallstones doesn’t necessarily mean that you have high cholesterol, Dr. Villarreal says.)

He explained that symptoms of gallstones include bloating, vomiting and pain. “The pain and other symptoms can vary in severity. Some people feel that they might be having a heart attack. It’s easy to evaluate the need for surgery with an ultrasound done at the doctor’s office.”

Most people are candidates for the less-invasive, laparoscopic surgery to remove the gallbladder. Some patients still will need the traditional surgery because of scarring from past abdominal surgery, inflammation, injury, a bleeding disorder or another complication.

How surgery is done

Laparoscopic gallbladder surgery usually is done in an outpatient setting; the patient goes home the same day as the surgery. Dr. Villarreal explained…

The patient is put to sleep with anesthesia. The physician inflates the belly and makes a small incision near the belly button, where he inserts a lighted scope with a small camera so he can view the surgery on a monitor. He then makes three small incisions under the right rib cage. He will use those incisions for his surgical instruments and as openings to remove the gallbladder.

It takes about an hour to do the surgery, and the patient spends another hour in the recovery room. Towards the end of the day, the patient is ready to go home.

“Recovery varies,” says Dr. Villarreal. “Some patients are back to their normal routine in a week. I’ve had some patients at the movies within three days.”

Traditional, open gallbladder surgery usually takes four to six weeks for recovery. That’s a big difference than the one to two weeks it usually takes with laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, he adds.

For most people, the body doesn’t seem to mind that it no longer has a gallbladder to store the bile from the liver, Dr. Villarreal says. “The body adjusts into delivering the bile straight from the liver to the intestines.”