How Do You Treat Cholecystitis?
In most cases, doctors suggest surgery to remove the gallbladder. The risk of problems from gallbladder disease is higher than the risk of surgery.
While the gallbladder helps with digestion, you can live without it.
Some people must reduce high-fat and spicy foods after gallbladder surgery to avoid cramping or other symptoms.
Laparoscopic gallbladder surgery
Most often, gallbladder removal surgery is laparoscopic or minimally invasive.
During laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, your surgeon will:
- Make small, minor cuts in the stomach rather than one large cut.
- Insert tiny surgical tools through a small flexible tube with a camera.
- Control the tools to cut the gallbladder away and seal the openings in the liver and small intestine.
Open gallbladder removal surgery
Sometimes people require open surgery to remove their gallbladder through one large cut.
Imaging tests may reveal that the surgeon will have trouble accessing the gallbladder using the minimally invasive technique.
Or, doctors may suggest open surgery if they need to clean the abdominal area to avoid infection.
Percutaneous cholecystostomy
Rarely the surgeon needs to drain the gallbladder by inserting a tube directly into it.
Imaging techniques allow the doctor to guide the tube in place.
Doctors may suggest this if you're temporarily too ill for gallbladder removal surgery.
Diet changes
Doctors suggest diet changes for people with a high risk of bleeding or other issues stemming from the surgery. A low-fat and low-spice diet can reduce the risk of repeated incidences of gallbladder disease.
Lifestyle changes often don't work, and people often require surgery later anyway.