If gallstones have been discovered incidentally and are not troublesome, your doctor may want to adopt and watch and see policy, which means your symptoms will be monitored to see if they progress before treatment is considered. Some people may have no symptoms, or just one mild attack of pain and no further trouble, while others have continuing problems. Waiting to see if further symptoms develop is quite common and safe. If your symptoms are causing more problems, your doctor will recommend one of the following forms of treatment:
Removal of your gallbladder
Removal of your gallbladder is the most usual treatment for gallstones that cause symptoms. Your gallbladder is not essential for life and most people notice little difference without it. It actually stops working properly when stones form, so your body has already adjusted to its loss.
Nowadays the gallbladder is usually removed by keyhole surgery and the operation is called a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A general anaesthetic is given with very small incisions needed in the abdomen, which enables the surgeon to pass through fine instruments and a tube with a camera on the end. The instruments are controlled by the doctor watching a TV screen. The gallbladder is removed through a cut in your navel. Most people are allowed home the following day, though some are discharged later the same day. Generally people are back to normal activities within two weeks.
Other types of operation
Sometimes it is not possible to remove the gallbladder by keyhole surgery and about one in ten people need a more traditional operation, which requires a longer stay in hospital and approximately six weeks convalescence. A few surgeons perform an operation called a minilaparotomy cholecystectomy, which uses special instruments and requires only a small cut.
Via ERCP examination
Sometimes stones, which have passed into the bile duct and cause infection or jaundice, can be removed during an ERCP examination. This is done by widening the opening to the bile duct with an electrically heated wire (diathermy), which you won't feel. The stones are removed or left to pass into your intestine. Sometimes a short plastic tube called a stent is left in the bile duct to help bile drain out. The stent may remain in place permanently or be removed at a later date.
Other methods to remove stones such as dissolving them with drugs or breaking them up with shock wave treatment are now only used occasionally.