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Avatar universal

Surgical clip fell off ??????????

I had GB removed by Lap in April. The acute nausea and vomiting have stopped. I am still having epigastric and right upper quadrant pain that comes and goes. My appetite is poor.  I get full really fast, as soon as I eat about 3-4 mouth-fulls.  I also get nausea but not as bad as before GB came out.
Is this all normal? If so for how much longer? (3.5 months ago)

My other "problem":   I had a back x-ray done last week and there is a surgical clip down at my bladder !!!!! It looks like the same ones up where my GB was removed. The back doctor said it was probably from an ob/gyn procedure I must have had done in the past.............well, you guessed it............I never have had any abdominal procedure, surgery or ob/gyn procedure ever done except to have my GB out! He then looked at the back x-ray from last year and sure enough, NO CLIP. He then shook his head and left the office.  So now what do I do? Is it OK to leave it alone? Am I leaking bile inside if the clip fell off of a duct? Maybe that is why I still don't feel good. Any advise?

Mocha
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Avatar universal
A related discussion, Symptoms of dropped surgical clip was started.
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Avatar universal
A related discussion, what to do next was started.
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Avatar universal
You have an interesting story.  Obviously, one of the clips used in surgery either fell off, or one was dropped during the surgery and was never clipped in the first place.  If you had bile leaking out of cystic duct stump where a clip presumably fell off, you would have known it very soon after surgery, is my opinion.  Bile leaking into the abdomen is very painful and causes a chemical peritonitis.  Probably more likely is you have other problems (there are many) for example, postcholecystectomy syndrome.  There could be more stones, problems with the lower ducts, etc.

I would forget about the back doctor's attitude and stay focused on your health.  Try to go through the hospital's medical information department to get copies of your hospital records such as the op report, to see if the surgeon documented a lost or dropped clip, for example.  But more importantly, you want to find a good internist and gastroenterologist who can help sort out the issues.
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Avatar universal
Greg, Thanks for the information. I'm not going to worry about the back doc............he's a strange kind of guy about everything.
I knew about the chemical peritonitis...........I'm 99% sure I don't have that. I am just wondering about leaving the loose clip in my abdomen.........could it cause problems?
Another bit of info: the wayward clip is in the "closed" position. That makes me think it fell off of something rather than dropped in by mistake.
I see my primary care doc next week for an un-related visit and I will be bringing him the x-ray showing the clip. I trust him completely and I know he will contact the surgeon if necessary.

I was trying to find out if anyone else has had a loose clip and whether it is safe to let them stay floating around in the abd. cavity.
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Avatar universal
I know, some doctors these days pick and choose what they want to do. The rest of the body is not their problem. Let the other doc who did the surgery take care of it. The least the back doctor could have done was to call the surgeon and let him know about the clip!!!     Now I'm really getting angry!

The clip looks exactly like the one up where the gall bladder was removed from. There are 4 clips up where the GB was and then there is the 1 down at the bladder area. Every once in a while I get sharp pains in my bladder.........is it really from the wayward clip or is it my imagination because I know the clip is there???? (No, the pains are real, the question is why)
Anyone else have loose clips?
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Avatar universal
What the heck is wrong with this doctor?  What kind of doctor would find a surgical clip in someone and just shake his head and leave and not do a thing about it!  Some doctors just urk me.  I think you should find a new doctor, one that cares a little bit more about his patients.  One that you can talk to and get this problem worked out.  How big is the sugical clip?  I would try to make arrangements to get it removed.
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