HOW IS LAPAROSCOPIC GALLBLADDER REMOVAL PERFORMED?
• Under general anesthesia, so the patient is asleep throughout the procedure. • Using a cannula (a narrow tube-like instrument), the surgeon enters the abdomen in the area of the belly-button. • A laparoscope (a tiny telescope) connected to a special camera is inserted through the cannula, giving the surgeon a magnified view of the patient’s internal organs on a television screen. • Other cannulas are inserted which allow your surgeon to delicately separate the gallbladder from its attachments and then remove it through one of the openings. • Many surgeons perform an X-ray, called a cholangiogram, to identify stones, which may be located in the bile channels, or to insure that structures have been identified. • If the surgeon finds one or more stones in the common bile duct, (s)he may remove them with a special scope, may choose to have them removed later through a second minimally invasive procedure, or may convert to an open operation in order to remove all the stones during the ope
