Understanding The Procedure And Rehabilitation For Robotic Gallbladder Surgery

Gallbladder surgery or a cholecystectomy is recommended for patients who suffer from gallstones that cause obstruction, pain, or inflammation in the gallbladder. The procedure involves the surgical removal of the gallbladder to prevent other complications and may also be used to treat gallbladder cancer.

Understanding The Procedure Of Robotic Gallbladder Surgery

There are different types of gallbladder surgery and these include:

Open surgery – The traditional surgery involved creation of a large surgical incision on the upper right- side of your belly for extraction of the gallbladder. The incision could measure between 4 to 6 inches in length.

Laparoscopic surgery – Regarded as minimally invasive, the laparoscopy procedure for gallbladder removal simply requires three to four small incisions. A thin tube is introduced via these incisions and it also holds a tiny video camera, robotic arms, and surgical tools, allowing the surgeon to perform the procedure by viewing it in detail on a monitor.

Da Vinci laparoscopic surgery – This is an advanced robotic surgery that is performed using the state-of-the-art da Vinci Surgical System. This provides surgeons with 3D, high definition vision that allows for breakthrough precision and dexterity, giving patients the safest and most effective gallbladder surgery.

What Happens During Robotic Surgery For Gallbladder Removal?

Robotic surgery for gallbladder removal can be performed in less than one hour, if the hospital has state-of-the-art technology and skilled surgeons with considerable experience. In such scenarios, a patient will typically require a hospital stay of no more than two hours. Traditional, laparoscopic gallbladder surgery time could be as long as two hours with additional hospitalization time.

Depending on the type of robotic or laparoscopic surgical procedure to remove the gallbladder, surgeons will make a single small incision or three to four small incisions. A thin tube with robotic arms, surgical tools, and a camera is then introduced through one of the incisions.

A specially trained surgeon controls the robotic arms, guiding every delicate movement, with greater dexterity than the human hand is capable of achieving. The surgeon is also able to use greater precision as he or she has access to a 3D high-definition, close-up view of the surgical site. Your surgeon will then remove the gallbladder through an incision made on the abdomen or through the belly button.

How Long Does It Take To Recover From Robotic Gallbladder Surgery?

Robotic gallbladder surgery recovery time is minimal and most patients will be able to return home on the day of the procedure itself. Only in rare cases, such as when a patient suffers from a serious pre-existing medical condition, there may be a need for further monitoring and an overnight stay.

Within a week of the procedure, you can also resume normal activities, even returning to work. Of course, this is only applicable to individuals with desk jobs as manual labor and lifting weights should be delayed for longer.

Laparoscopic surgery gallbladder recovery time is not very different, but patients who undergo open surgery for gallbladder removal would require hospitalization for a few days after the procedure and recovery could take over a month.

Robotic & Laparoscopic Gallbladder Surgery Complications

Every surgery comes with some risk and in the case of robotic or laparoscopic gallbladder removal these can include:

Damage to surrounding organs or tissue
Infection of surgical site
Pancreatic inflammation
Leakage of bile into the abdominal cavity
Hernia

Why Is Robotic Gallbladder Surgery The Best Choice?

When available to patients, who are viable candidates and have access to a hospital with the required advanced technology, robotic surgery is the best option due to its precision and efficacy. Robotic surgery is much safer as compared to open surgery, posing a significantly lower risk of complications including infections or blood loss. Patients also experience less pain or discomfort, which means that they have reduced dependence on pain medication. For many patients, the biggest advantage of robotic surgery is that it has a shorter hospitalization and recovery period, while also leaving much smaller and less visible scars.