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Sunday, September 4th, 2011

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Getting Your Gallbladder Out: When You Should and What to Expect

Just beneath your liver, tucked away in a lonely back alley of your abdomen, lies one of the smallest organs in your body: your gallbladder. If you’re like most people, you spend very little time thinking about your gallbladder. As long as it’s doing its job (storing gall – what are the odds?), you probably don’t think about it at all. It’s not pretty; it’s not a glamour organ like your liver or brain; in fact, it’s not even a vital organ. (The next time someone fires a gun at you, try to position yourself so that your gallbladder takes the bullet.)

But just let something go wrong with the little bugger! Suddenly, your humble gallbladder becomes the center of the universe. Whether the problem is obstruction of the bile duct, thickening of the gallbladder wall, or the ever-popular gallstones, a gallbladder attack is certain to send you scurrying to your surgeon’s office in search of relief from the agonizing pain.

But just what is a gallbladder?

“Basically, it’s an organ that aids in the digestive process by concentrating the bile produced by your liver,” explains Jason Harrison, M.D, a board-certified surgeon who performs general surgery in Arlington, Texas. “Bile is the liquid that breaks up and smooths out the fats in the food you eat – it also cancels out the acids in partly digested food,” he says. By concentrating bile and passing it on to your digestive tract, it helps you digest rich foods more easily.

Unfortunately, the gallbladders of some people also concentrate calcium and other minerals, producing gallstones, which can seriously harm your health as well as cause agonizing pain. And of course your gallbladder is susceptible to the usual range of internal organ illnesses. Whatever problem you’re having with your gallbladder, an experienced general surgeon can probably fix it – and with less discomfort and hassle than you might expect.

Let’s say something goes haywire and you have to have your gallbladder out – a procedure called a cholecystectomy. (In fact, each year more than half a million Americans have gallbladder surgery.) Here’s what to expect: After an overnight fast, you arrive at the hospital, where you’ll be anesthetized and prepared for surgery.

“Most gallbladder surgery can be performed laparoscopically through a few small incisions in the abdomen, instead of accessing the stomach cavity through one large incision,” says Dr. Harrison. Once these “keyholes” are made, the surgeon will insert a Video Camera and a set of tiny surgical instruments into your body, then separate and remove the gallbladder through one of the keyholes. Barring the unforeseen, you’ll be in and out of surgery in an hour or so.

And that’s it. Since the laparoscopic procedure does not require cutting the abdominal muscles, you hurt less, heal faster, have fewer complications, and don’t scar as badly as you would from traditional types of “open” surgery. You also almost always get to go home the same day of your surgery as well, with only a single follow-up visit to make sure that you are doing well. Your doctor may even give you your gallstones, if you want ‘em!

Despite its droll function and unimpressive appearance, your gallbladder is important – not vital, but important just the same. Take care of your gallbladder. Treasure it. And, if something goes wrong, call Dr. Jason Harrison at Harrison General Surgery in Arlington. He’ll have you back on your feet and digesting in no time.

About the Author

Dr. Jason Harrison is a board-certified surgeon performing gallbladder removal and other forms of general surgery in Arlington, Texas.

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Historians dispute the founding of Arlington. Some say Arlington started in 1848 when Col. Middleton Tate Johnson started the settlement called Johnson’s Station, a forerunner of Arlington. Others say it was 1876, when the railroad arrived, or 1877, when