Gallstone removal is a surgical procedure that clears the gallbladder of calculus buildup. During digestion, the gallbladder stores, concentrates and releases bile. This liquid contains several chemicals, one of which may crystallize and form sand, gravel and lastly, stones. These stones may move out and occlude the exit, hindering the gallbladder from emptying and causing symptoms including irritation, inflammation and infection.

Occasionally a stone may travel into the common bile duct where it gets stuck, causing bile to move back up into the liver and gallbladder or even plugging the pancreas, resulting in pancreatitis. Gallstones trigger aches in the upper stomach which will persist for 30 minutes up to a few hours, often accompanied by nausea and sometimes vomiting.

Procedure information
The best treatment to eliminate gallstones is usually the complete removal of the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) by means of a laparoscope, a fine tube-like instrument. Small surgical incisions result in fast healing and patients are relatively tolerant to this approach. Not every person is an aspirant for this procedure however; if the patient is too ill for the removal of the gallbladder, only the stones are eradicated (cholelithotomy). However, the eradication of the stones does not solve the problem as new stones will form.

Additional surgery must be performed to take out a stone if it is stuck in the bile ducts. After the operation, the doctor will generally leave in a drain for the bile flow, which can also be utilized to insert contrast material for x-rays.

Recovery time
As it is not a vitally important organ, patients are able to lead a normal life without a gallbladder, and stones will reform very rarely. In case of continued symptoms after surgery, patients might need an ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatoscopy) in order to discover remaining bile duct stones. Further stones can be removed through the mouth, throat, stomach, biliary system and duodenum without surgical incisions. In general, the recovery period is not longer than 1 week, after which the patient can generally resume all normal activities.