Causes of Gallstones & Gallbladder problems
Most adults with gallstones do not have symptoms. Eighty percent (80%) of people with gallstones go 20 years without symptoms.
Gallstones are often the cause of gallbladder problems, but what causes gallstones? There are many factors or combinations of factors that can contribute to gallstone formation, specific to each individual. You are more likely to get gallstones if you:
- Have a family history of gallstones,
- Are Native American,
- Are a woman,
- Have had children,
- Are overweight
- Have lost weight rapidly,
- Have sickle cell disease,
- Have used estrogen to manage menopause,
- Are over 40.
Doctors do not have a consistent way of preventing gallstones, however, a healthy lifestyle is always recommended as a standard to prevent or reduce conditions in combination with other surgical and non-surgical treatments. This includes a healthy monitored weight loss, daily exercise, and eating high-fiber foods such as beans, whole grains, peas, figs, apricots, dates, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, corn, broccoli, plums, pears, apples, greens, and nuts.
Symptoms of Gallstone & Gallbladder problems
Gallbladder problems may cause pain occurring usually on the right side or middle of your upper belly, and can last from 30 minutes to 24 hours. This pain, also known as Biliary Colic, may be constant or may get worse after a heavy meal, or it may sometimes feel more like fullness than pain. The location of the pain may be felt in your back and the tip of your right shoulder blade. Acute Cholecystitis pain lasts longer than 6 hours, with abdominal tenderness and fever.
Other symptoms in addition to the sharp pain in your abdomen may include:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Fever
- Chills
- Indigestion
- Jaundice or Yellow Skin
Robotically-Assisted Cholecystectomy with
The Da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System
Surgical robotics for minimally invasive surgery
The da Vinci Surgical System allows Dr. David W. Ford to perform minimally invasive Cholecystectomies with clinically supported precision and accuracy. During the robotically assisted cholecystectomy, Dr. David W. Ford makes four small ports or incisions, each less than 1 inch long, in your abdomen. A laparoscope (a tube with a tiny video camera) is inserted into your abdomen through one of the incisions.
Dr. David W. Ford who is seated in the operating room, operates via the Surgeon Console that controls the Patient Cart’s robotic devices, including various surgical instruments and the camera. The images gathered from the laparoscope’s camera are high-definition 3D, which are sent to a monitor that Dr. David W. Ford uses to guide the surgical system during the gallbladder removal. If needed, the abdomen can be inflated with a harmless gas (carbon dioxide), which creates space to allow Dr. Ford to view the inside of the body. After the gallbladder is removed, your incisions are sutured, glued or surgically clipped, and you're taken to a recovery area. A cholecystectomy using the da Vinci robotically assisted surgical system takes one or two hours.
There are many robotically-assisted surgical systems that are FDA approved and in use today. However, many are specially designed for specific organs, procedures or conditions, such as lung or pulmonary surgeries or knee and other extremity replacement surgeries. The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System is the premier system specialized in cholecystectomies. Dr. David W. Ford is not only an expert board certified surgeon, but also certified in the use of this leading-edge technology.
This robotic platform offers Dr. David W. Ford fully wristed instruments and a 3D high-definition camera with 10x magnification. As a result, the gallbladder removal can be done with more precision, and complex situations can be fixed with small incisions. Furthermore, the robot doesn’t get tired and Dr. Ford sits during surgery, so there is less surgeon fatigue. For the patient, this translates into quicker recovery, less pain and less complications.
Other benefits of robotic cholecystectomies include:
- Access to clear three-dimensional images (unlike laparoscopic surgery’s two-dimensional images) of the inside of the abdomen for more precise surgery.
- Dr. Ford can easily use stitches to sew tissue on the inside of the abdomen.
- The patient is left with tiny scars rather than one large incision scar.
- The possibility of much less pain, faster recovery and quicker return to normal diet and activities after surgery are observed, compared to all other types of gallbladder surgery.
In 2000, Intuitive’s da Vinci Surgical System was the first robotic surgery device to gain FDA clearance for use in general laparoscopic surgeries, including minimally invasive cardiac, colorectal, gynecology, head and neck, thoracic, urology, and general surgeries. Over 1,700 da Vinci Systems are currently installed in hospitals internationally, and more than 775,000 patients have received procedures from this robotic surgical system. With roughly 75 percent of all prostate cancer operations in the U.S. being performed using da Vinci devices, this robotic platform has established itself as an effective and reliable tool.
Should the robotically assisted surgical laparoscopic surgery be recommended as part of treatment for your gallbladder and/or cholecystectomy, Dr. David W. Ford and his team will have the best state-of-the-art technology at their disposal to usher in your recovery.
How The Da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System works
Da Vinci surgical systems are comprised of three components: surgeon console, patient-side cart, and vision cart.
Surgeon Console
Patient Cart
The patient-side cart is positioned near the patient on the operating table. It is where the instruments used during the operation move in real time in response to your surgeon’s hand movements at the surgeon console.
A camera provides a high-definition, 3D magnified view inside your body. Every hand movement your surgeon makes is translated by the da Vinci system in real time to bend and rotate the instruments with precision.
Vision Cart
The vision cart makes communication possible between the components of the system possible, and supports the 3D High Definition vision system.
Traditional (Open) Cholecystectomy:
During an open cholecystectomy, Dr. David W. Ford makes a 4-7-inch (approximately 15-centimeter) incision in your abdomen below your ribs on your right side. The muscle and tissue are pulled back to reveal your liver and gallbladder, and ducts are clamped off. Dr. Ford then removes the gallbladder, and the incision is sutured or stapled closed, and you're taken to a recovery area. If necessary, a drain may be placed at the incision site. An open cholecystectomy takes one or two hours. Expect to spend two or three days in the hospital recovering. Once at home, it may take four to six weeks to fully recover.