Cholecystectomy laparoscopic - discharge; Cholelithiasis - laparoscopic discharge; Biliary calculus - laparoscopic discharge; Gallstones - laparoscopic discharge; Cholecystitis - laparoscopic discharge
Laparoscopic gallbladder removal is surgery to remove the gallbladder using a medical device called a laparoscope.
You had a procedure called a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Your surgeon made 1 to 4 small cuts in your belly and used a special instrument called a laparoscope to take out your gallbladder.
Recovering from laparoscopic cholecystectomy will take up to 6 weeks for most people. You may be back to most normal activities in a week or two, but it can take several weeks to return to your normal energy level. You may have some of these symptoms as you recover:
Start walking after surgery. Begin your everyday activities as soon as you feel up to it. Move around the house and shower, and use the stairs during your first week home. If it hurts when you do something, stop doing that activity.
You may be able to drive after a week or so if you are not taking strong pain medicines (narcotics) and if you can move quickly without being hampered by pain if you need to react in an emergency. Don't do any strenuous activity or lift anything heavy for at least a couple of weeks. At any time, if any activity causes pain or pulls on the incisions, just don't do it.
You may be able to go back to a desk job after a week depending upon how much pain you are having and how energetic you feel. Talk to your health care provider if your work is physical.
If sutures, staples, or glue were used to close your skin, you may take off the wound dressings and take a shower the day after surgery.
If tape strips (Steri-strips) were used to close your skin, cover the wounds with plastic wrap before showering for the first week after surgery. Do not try to wash the Steri-strips off. Let them fall off on their own.
Do not soak in a bathtub or hot tub, or go swimming, until your surgeon tells you it is OK.
Eat a high-fiber diet. Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water every day to help ease bowel movements. You may want to avoid greasy or spicy foods for a while.
Go for a follow-up visit with your provider 1 to 2 weeks after your surgery.
Contact your provider if:
American College of Surgeons. Cholecystectomy: surgical removal of the gallbladder. American College of Surgeons Operation Brochures for Patients. www.facs.org/media/sskdidat/cholecys.pdf. Updated 2022. Accessed October 17, 2024.
Quick CRG, Biers SM, Arulampalam THA. Gallstone diseases and related disorders. In: Quick CRG, Biers SM, Arulampalam THA, eds. Essential Surgery Problems, Diagnosis and Management. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 20.
Radkani P, Hawksworth J, Fishbein T. Biliary system. In: Townsend CM Jr, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 21st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 55.
BACK TO TOPReview Date: 9/30/2024
Reviewed By: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UW Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
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