One of the commonest problems which present to a general surgeon in his clinic is people having gallbladder stones. These stones cause a variety of symptoms including gas bloat , abdominal pain, vomiting and sometimes can cause jaundice and pancreatitis. The only treatment for symptomatic gallbladder stones is surgery which entails complete removal of gallbladder from the body. Only removal of stones is not advisable as there is a high chance of recurrence in the future.
People are often apprehensive that removal of gallbladder from their body may weaken their digestive system but this is not true. The gallbladder serves as a storage place for bile juice produced by the liver. All the bile produced by the liver during fasting goes into the gallbladder and this is periodically emptied into the intestine when we consume food. Thus, it helps in regulated flow of bile and prevents wastage of bile during periods of fasting. After gallbladder surgery, the pathway of bile going towards the gallbladder is permanently closed with small clips and the entire bile continuously goes into the intestine. This means that there is bile in the intestine irrespective of whether a person has consumed food or not. Thus, the digestion of food takes place normally although there might be some wastage of bile during periods of fasting but our body quickly adapts to this by producing more bile juice. Hence, a patient of gallbladder removal can also take food normally after surgery and their digestion is not hampered.