Gallbladder surgery, complications

3 weeks ago I had my Gallbladder removed, laproscoply. Since than I have been exhausted, still fill fullness where my gallbladder was, and after I eat (which I am afraid to do) it fills like a ballon filling up and than I have a burning pain in that area, shooting down to the bottom of my ribs. The pain lessens as time goes on, but always have that ballon like feeling in the gallbladder region. I also get terrible shooting nerve type pain that goes from my navel over to my hip and shooting pain from the other incesions areas. Pain is always much worse after eating. On top of that my reflux is out of control, always nauseaded, and have terrible bloating and gas.  My surgeon said, he doesn't know what to do, my Internaest(who was listed as one of the top internest in our state) did all kinds of blood tests for kidneys, liver pancretis, etc. all normal, than he did a c-scan of my stomach from the bottom of my brest down to my pelvic area. Nothing showed up. Now he doesn't know what to do.   Thank you,  Jan

[Kevin Pho, MD]

The CT scan would make a common complication from gallbladder surgery, a biliary duct leak, less likely.  You can consider an ultrasound to ensure this didn't happen.

Further evaluation of the GI tract can be done to exclude other causes.  This can include an upper endoscopy as well as a gastric emptying scan.  This can look for various causes of dyspepsia as well as delayed gastric emptying.

A referral to a GI specialist can be done to discuss these options.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
www.kevinmd.com

[Over_Dairy]

My husband had his GB out and when they did the dye check to test for "leaks" they spotted a stricture of the Common Bile Duct.  Post-op he continued to have the same pain and digestive issues as before the surgery until a specialist gastro did the ERCP and solved the stricture.  Presto -- all problems solved.

[AlanPi]

There are also some SOD dysfunctions possible after cholecystectomy:

Sphincter of Oddi (SOD) muscle keep the bile duct and pancreatic duct muscles colsed to prevent reflux

A MRCP may be needed to look at the bile duct.

[petra70x]

this is ***@**** I had my gall bladder removed Nov. last year Still had problems then it was a blockage in my billary tract so they cut and put a stent in and then removed the stent. Now I have stomach problem and gas I cannot wear any of my clothes. High liver enszymes and it is hard to break down body fat.

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A related discussion, Hiatal hernia causing chest discomfort was started.