Should I have my gallbladder removed? And should it be done at the same time as my sleeve surgery?

Question

I was told I had some stones, I am feeling discomfort. I'm scheduled to have gastric sleeve & gallbladder surgery on June 30th, but I'm having serious doubts about the gallbladder surgery. I do want the sleeve more than anything in this world. Do you suggest I do anything to not have the gallbladder surgery? I just need some answers since I am so confused. Thank you!!

Wiljon W. Beltre, MD · Answer

Are you having symptoms? If you are having serious gall bladder pain, then it may be wise to remove it at the same time.  If your symptoms are mild or non, I recommend you do not remove it at the same time.  Bariatric surgery can have potential complications, why do you want to add another procedure unnecessarily? Removing a gall bladder in an obese individual can be very difficult.  If possible, have the sleeve and when you lose a substantial amount of weight then have your gall bladder removed.  It will be so much easier then.  Don't add unnecessary risk.

Shawn Garber, MD, FACS, FASMBS · Answer

We routinely do preoperative ultrasounds on all of our patients.  If you have gallstones we usually recommend you have it removed at the time of the sleeve gastrectomy surgery if it is straight forward to remove. Sometimes patients with morbid obesity have their gallbladder buried in the liver and it is not safe to remove at the time of the sleeve gastrectomy. In these cases we would leave the gallbladder and worry about it another day if you had symptoms.  About 98% of the time if you have gallstones we would remove it at the time of the sleeve gastrectomy.

Carson C. Cunningham, MD · Answer

Absolutely remove the gallbladder with gastric sleeve. It has stones and will continue to cause problems. This is why I ALWAYS check a gallbladder ultrasound on perspective weight loss surgery patients.

Pablo Garcia, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

Part of the preoperative studies is a series of abdominal sonograms, in case of finding stones in the gallbladder, the surgical time would be used to perform cholecystectomy. This is done because one of the main causes of the formation of these stones in the gallbladder is rapid weight loss, which occurs after bariatric or metabolic surgery.

However, your doctor may also present you with the option of waiting for a second surgery to perform the cholecystectomy, which is possible.

therefore, you should be alert in case of onset of symptoms related to gallstones, such as (although not exclusively) pain in the abdomen after eating fatty foods, feeling of fullness after eating regardless of the amount, diarrhea after eating fatty foods and others. although it is possible to have gallbladder stones without having symptoms at the time of surgery,

Should I have my gallbladder removed? And should it be done at the same time as my sleeve surgery?

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More Gastric Sleeve Surgery Questions

Realistically, after getting the gastric sleeve, how many pounds will be dropped by 4 weeks post surgery?

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