Gallstones and Gallbladder Disease - Treatment

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Surgery to remove the gallbladder (called cholecystectomy) is nearly always indicated in people with acute cholecystitis. The most common procedure is now laparoscopy, a less invasive technique than open cholecystectomy (which involves a wide abdominal incision). Timing can be within hours to weeks after the acute episode, depending on the severity of the condition.

Click the icon to see an illustrated series detailing a gallbladder removal.

Gallstone-Associated Pancreatitis. Patients who have developed gallstone-associate pancreatitis almost always require surgery, either laparoscopic or open cholecystectomy.

Common Duct Stones. If noninvasive diagnostic tests suggest obstruction from common duct stones, the doctor performs a procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to confirm the diagnosis and remove stones. This technique is used urgently along with antibiotics if infection is present in the common duct (cholangitis). (In most cases common duct stones are discovered during or after gallbladder removal.)

Review Date: 06/12/2006
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, M.D., Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital