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Gallbladder Post-Surgery Complications

Possible complications that can occur after gallbladder surgery can include blood clots, skin incision infections, peritonitis (deep abdominal infection), hernias and bleeding. Also, if any injury occurred during surgery to the liver, bile duct, intestines, stomach or blood vessels---but was not observed at the time---it might result in complications later.

  1. Gallbladder

    • The gallbladder lies on the right-hand side of the body, directly beneath the liver. It is a tiny organ that connects to both the liver and the intestines via a bile duct, which receives bile from the liver and then, in turn, supplies it to the intestines for digestive purposes.

    Gallbladder Surgery Options

    • A cholecystectomy (gallbladder surgery) can be performed as an open abdominal surgery (known as an open chloecystectomy) or as a laparoscopic surgery (laparoscopic cholecystectomy), which is less invasive and has a shorter recovery time.

      In an open chloecystectomy, large incisions are made in the skin to allow the doctor to remove the gallbladder through this opening in the body. Much smaller incisions are made for the laparoscopic cholecystectomy, since scopes are used by the surgeon for the removal of the gallbladder or any exploration to be done inside the body.

    Open Chloecystectomy Complications

    • Since this surgery involves opening up a large part of the abdominal cavity area, an increased risk exists (during and post-surgery) for skin and deep abdominal infection (peritonitis), as well as bleeding. In addition, if gallbladder stones are to be searched for or removed during surgery the bile duct will be opened up too. Opening up the bile duct can also cause post-surgery complications, since it will then need to drain for several days or weeks before the surgical incision can be closed.

    Additional Open Complications

    • Still having an open incision in your abdomen due to the bile duct--as well as drainage from your abdominal area--for days or weeks after the surgery creates additional potential infection complications. It also increases the risk of blood clot formation (and that potential danger of death if the clot reaches the lungs) due to the patient having limited movement capabilities.

    Laparoscopic Chloecystectomy Complications

    • While the laparoscopic chloecystectomy has less infection risk, since smaller incisions are made in the abdomen, infection is still a possible post-surgery complication. So is bleeding, since the liver, bile duct or stomach could have been slightly damaged during surgery, unbeknownst to the surgeon.

    Additional Laparoscopic Complications

    • In addition, just as with the open chloecystectomy, the laparoscopic surgery can result in post-surgery blood-clot formation in the legs. If clots develop, they have the potential to prove fatal if they make it to the lungs before being dissolved. Therefore, death is also a possible post-surgery complication for this type of surgery.

    Other Complications

    • After the bile duct has been drained and the surgical incisions closed, there is still the possibility that the bile duct could leak internally. In addition, pancreatitis, pneumonia and heart problems can all be complications from having a chloecystectomy, according to the Mayo Clinic.

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