Gallbladder polyp removal

[AtlantaDan]

Hi -

After a recent bout of gallbladder discomfort an ultrasound indicated a gallbladder polyp (no other details). The attending physician mentioned gallbladder removal as casually as having a tooth extracted. I have an appointment tomorrow with my Primary Care physician to discuss this.

After several gallstone episodes a friend of mine had her gallbladder removed at 19. As a direct consequence of this she now suffers from a variety of digestive disorders and annoyances and regrets allowing her parents to persuade her to accept the surgery.

My question is with the advancement of all kinds of surgical techniques why can't a small incision be made in the gallbladder wall and the polyp removed? This would then preserve the gallbladder with it's important role in digestion.

[AtlantaDan]

Thanks for an otherwise informative response but "this is the only way" does not answer the question I posed.

At one time tonsillectomies, appendectomies and other surgeries were performed at the drop of a hat all over the country. These have precipitously declined in recent decades.

Similarly just yanking out gallbladders all over the country without even considering alternatives looks to me like the same sort of habitual "worst" practice that one day will be viewed as unfortunate (to put it mildly) by practitioners using more advanced procedures.

Yet those "advanced" procedures are fairly basic and well within the skill set of any experienced surgeon.  Oh well - if it doesn't profit the Corporate Medical Industry guess it won't happen in modern America.

[CalGal]

At this point-in-time, the only way to get rid of the polyp is to get rid of the gallbladder. Polyps in the GB, just like polyps found in the colon or almost anywhere in the body, are now considered to be a problem that can lead to development of cancer. In the past docs used to 'watch them' and if they were seen to grow then the GB was removed. But the most recent recommendation is now 'if a polyp is present, remove the GB.'

Removing the GB can cause some issues due to an inability to digest fats in the manner one did prior to the surgery. If your friend is having problems with looser stools or 'explosive' diarrhea, suggest she try to follow a low fat diet which can often help. If that's not effective there are bile-binding resins that can be tried that may also help the problem.