In addition to the expected digestive side effects, gallbladder removal is typically considered a minimally invasive procedure, but it carries a small risk of other complications. These include:
Bile Leakage
As part of the surgery to remove your gallbladder, clips are used to seal the tube that connects the gallbladder to your main bile duct.
It’s possible, though, for bile to leak into the abdomen if the clip doesn’t adequately seal the tube.
Sometimes a bile leak can be drained without the need for further surgery. In more severe cases, though, an operation is needed to drain the bile and wash out the inside of your abdomen.
Bile Duct Injury
This can lead to the leakage of bile into the abdomen or the blockage of bile flow from the liver.
If your surgeon realizes this right away, it may be possible to fix the problem immediately. More severe bile duct injuries are often referred to medical centers with expert teams that can better deal with this problem.
Injury to Surrounding Structures
These problems can usually be spotted and fixed right away, but if they’re not noticed until later, another operation may be needed.
Recurrent Stones
An obstruction from a new stone in your biliary tract can occur even after gallbladder surgery
Blood Clots
This type of clot, known as deep vein thrombosis, usually develops in your leg but can travel to and lodge in other areas of your body, cutting off blood flow to parts of your lungs (known as pulmonary embolism).
If you have an elevated risk of blood clots, talk to your doctor about ways to mitigate the risk. These may include getting up and walking around as soon as possible after surgery, wearing medical compression stockings, and taking blood-thinning medication to prevent clots.
Infection
Signs of an infected wound include:
- Increased pain at the site
- Swelling
- Redness
- Pus leaking from the wound
To treat an infection, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics. In rare cases, it may be necessary to surgically drain fluid or pus from the infected area.
Bleeding (Hemorrhage)
Scars and Numbness
Hernia
General Surgical Complications
The following are risks inherent to all surgeries, not just gallbladder surgery:
- Reactions to Anesthesia It’s possible, though very rare, to have severe reactions to the anesthesia used for your surgery, including a severe allergic reaction or even sudden death.
- Heart Problems If you already have cardiovascular disease, the stress of surgery can cause or worsen heart problems.
- Pneumonia During your surgery, you’ll be given a breathing tube since you won’t be able to breathe on your own under general anesthesia. This ventilated breathing may increase your risk of pneumonia. In rare cases, you can develop a lung infection following your surgery as a result of this. Depending on its severity, you may be prescribed oral antibiotics, or you may need to be hospitalized and given intravenous fluids and antibiotics.
