Are there types of cholecystectomy surgeries?
Patients indicated to remove their gallbladder usually get informed with the surgery and how it will go. There are two types of procedures surgeons do to remove the gallbladder. Both types are almost equal in results and have barely noticeable differences in complications. These operations are called open cholecystectomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Open cholecystectomy was the operation of choice in the 20th century until 1990 when laparoscopic cholecystectomy took its place. Open cholecystectomy involves making an incision of about 10 cm below the right costal margin (the lowermost ribs) or just next to the midline. Then the surgeon separates the muscle layer and fascia till he has access to the gall bladder. Then retraction is applied to the gallbladder allowing the surgeon to dissect its duct and cauterize its supplying artery.
This operation takes approximately an hour and the patient could be discharged after 3 – 4 days. Patients feel no pain during the surgery because they get general anesthesia, they might have some sort of discomfort after it though. Open cholecystectomy is said to have a zero% mortality rate and it is still performed nowadays yet the majority of patients prefer not to have the 10 cm abdominal scar.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is now considered the gold standard for patients indicated to get their gallbladder removed. It is estimated that more than 80% of the performed gall bladder removal surgeries every year are laparoscopic. LC is significantly successful with almost neglectable complications. However, its mortality rate is less than 0.5% and its morbidity rate is about 5%.
The technique of laparoscopic cholecystectomy includes making 3 or 4 holes in which the surgeon inserts his tools and a laparoscope to visualize the viscera. Scaring after laparoscopic cholecystectomy is minimal and less than open cholecystectomy. Operation time of laparoscopic cholecystectomy is longer than open cholecystectomy and it is about 80 minutes ± 4. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has a shorter hospitalization period as patients who underwent LC can leave the hospital after just 1-2 days.
