What Treatment are Available for Gallstones?
Many new approaches to gallstone treatment have been tried over the past several years, but surgical removal of the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) remains the most widely used therapy. This is partly because the newer non-surgical treatments are useful in only some gallstone patients, but surgery can be used in virtually all patients. Patients generally do well after surgery and have no difficulty with digesting food, even though the gallbladder’s function is to aid digestion. Surgical options include the standard procedure, called open cholecystectomy, and a newer less invasive procedure called laparoscopic cholecystectomy (“belly-button surgery”).
