CHOLECYSTECTOMY FOR GALLSTONES (STONES IN THE GALLBLADDER).

When stones obstruct the outflow of bile through the cystic duct, which connects it to the bile duct, the gallbladder contracts and causes pain. Under certain circumstances, the gallbladder and the bile contained in it can become infected and cause acute cholecystitis.

Diagnosis is based on clinical manifestations, usually pain in the pit of the stomach and below the right ribs, radiating to the back, nausea and vomiting. A blood test with a liver profile is essential. Confirmation is usually by abdominal ultrasound, although it may be necessary to perform an abdominal CT scan, cholangioMRI or even an echoendoscopy.

The treatment of symptomatic cholelithiasis will always be surgery. At present, minimally invasive treatment should be offered almost 100 % of the time, although it may be necessary to convert to open surgery if the circumstances of the surgical field require it.

Although it is a very safe and regulated procedure, the so-called bile duct iatrogenesis, which is an injury to the bile duct as a consequence of the surgery, is very serious and can greatly complicate the postoperative period.