Gallbladder Surgery Recovery: Bile Duct Injury
An estimated 750,000 gallbladder surgeries are performed a year to treat serious gallstone problems. Although rare, sometimes patients suffer from bile duct injuries. Some experts believe this may be linked to the increase in laparoscopic gallbladder surgeries.
A bile duct injury occurs when the surgeon mistakenly cuts the bile duct instead of the nearby cystic duct. When this occurs bile leake into the abdominal area and causes infection. Bile ducts that have been mistakenly cut must be repaired; this is done through surgery.
Bile Duct Injury Side Effects
Because patients recover rapidly after gallbladders removed laparoscopically and the majority of them are back to their pre-surgery state within ten days to two weeks, patients who continue to complain of symptoms and are not improving should be evaluated for possible bile duct injury. Patients with bile duct injuries may exhibit symptoms soon after the surgery or days, weeks, or months after the procedure.
Some of the symptoms associated with bile duct injury are:
general malaise
nausea
vomiting
loss of appetite or anorexia
abdominal pain
low-grade fever
jaundice
Patients who develop delayed symptoms from a bile duct injury may be suffering from scarring of the bile duct as a result of the gallbladder removal surgery. These patients typically exhibit a dilatation of their bile duct above the point of injury. At the point of injury the scarring gives rise to narrowing so that bile cannot go through. The bile then spills over into their blood and the patients typically develop jaundice.
IMPORTANT: If you experience any of the symptoms above (persistent pain, fever, jaundice) after your gallbladder surgery you should contact your physician IMMEDIATELY. Bile duct injuries are very serious and can be fatal if not properly treated in a timely manner.
To reduce the incidence of bile duct injuries the The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons recommends that Intraoperative Cholangiograms, an x-ray procedure, “be applied liberally” before surgery to help the surgeon identify sensitive anatomy. A review of scientific research published in March, 2007 in the Journal of American College of Surgeons reinforces this recommendation. Pre-surgery cholangiogram procedures cost between $100 and $200, take approximately ten minutes, and provide the surgeon with a better awareness of what anatomy requires excision.
Studies have shown that bile duct injuries are reduced when cholangiograms are performed. Additionally, surgeons may want to inject a dye into the gallbladder and the bile ducts so they won’t injure the bile ducts as they remove the gallbladder, according to a study of 1,570,361 gallbladder operations. (JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, Subject: Health, ISSN: 0098-7484,
Again, remember that bile duct injuries during laparoscopic gallbladder surgeries are rare. However, it’s always important to be informed before having any medical procedure performed on your body.
Ask your doctor if he/she plans to perform an Intraoperative Cholangiogram before your surgery. Ask them what they think of the procedure. You may also want to consult your primary care physician or family doctor about the matter.
Remember, it’s always good to be informed before getting any type of surgical procedure.
Filed Under Gallbladder Surgery Recovery | 21 Comments
Tagged With bile duct injury, gall bladder surgery, gallbladder surgery, gallbladder surgery complications, gallbladder surgery problems, Gallbladder Surgery Recovery, gallbladder surgery side effects, intraoperative cholangiograms, laparoscopic gall bladder surgery
Two days following gallbladder surgery my 39 year old neice declined in health with persistant stomach pain, nausea, fever, left quadrant and back pain. Eleven days later, tests confirmed a large amount of free fluid in her stomach. Exploratory surgery followed and it was reported that the surgeon found a nickle size bleeding ulcer hole in her duodonum. A tube was put down her throat and massive amounts of green bile drained for four solid days. Now I am concerned that the doctors covered up, and her bile duct was severed during gallbladder surgery. An endoscope had been performed 10 days prior to the gallbladder surgery, and the results were unremarkable. Thoughts……
I AM SORRY FOR YOUR NIECE BECAUSE SHE WILL MORE THAN LIKELY SUFFER FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE. MY BROTHER DIED FROM A CUT BILE DUCT BECAUSE EVERYTHING WAS COVERED UP VERY WELL . HE LIVED FOR NEARLY A YEAR AND SUFFERED SO MUCH . MY BROTHER WAS 64 AND IN ILL HEALTH WHEN THE SURGERY (LAPROSCOPIC GB) TOOK PLACE. WE ARE WORKING ON GETTING THIS DR’S LICENSES TAKEN AWAY.
Good luck, it is very hard to prove and they just make up excuses and cover for each other.
should I call the ER and tell them my symtoms?
I’m a medical malpractice attorney, and I can tell you that you should contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney IMMEDIATELY. Bile duct injury cases are not unusual but should be handled by an attorney who is experienced in these types of matters. I have handled dozens over the years. For more information, see stlmedicalmalpractice.com.
I don’t know what country you’re from, but it is common practice in Australia to enter a tube- draining system (stomal like) for this very reason..so that fluids do not accumulate.. I understood it is common practice.. also in med school. Either you have crappy doctors or do not have enough health pay.. (usa?)
My husband had a lap chole just over two years ago and nearly died after a week with 3.2litres of bile in his abdomen. He is still suffering a myriad of problems, the latest is chronic prostatitis. He is 42. Because of ACC it is very difficult to sue here (NZ), but if anyone has any suggestions, spill the beans. We are so fed up with the situation.
in two thousand four i had my gallbladder removed both bileducts were cut and my liver. five months later i started having this cronic nausea, five spec. and nothing found. i have been looking for a anwser for so long please if there is one my life could be back to normal. i cant keep living like this
My liver duct closed up 8 months after my gallbladder surgery. Now they are wanting me to allow the same doctor that did my gallbladder surgery to do a breast biospy. I am scared to death. I had scar tissue and some small stones left in my liver duct . But, my insurance won’t pay for another surgeon for my breast biospy. Just thought I would also share what I went through. It was horrible. I had to have a ERCP surgery. Thank Goodness, it was a different surgeon for that .
I can find very little on the web, or through the medical fraternity to help with living after this awful thing is done to you. I hate seeing my husband such a shell of himself. We are trying some alternative stuff, but really we need him to be able to rest more, so need money, money, money. Meanwhile the surgeon that did it carries on merrily, while we try to cope with the aftermath.
Katrina:
I’m sorry to hear that your husband is having problems. Feel free to share if you like. I’ll send up a prayer for you tonight.
I had my gallbladder removed on Sept. 21,2011 and the doctor cut my bile duct. He took a part of my small intestant to replace the part he cut and I know have a jp tub coming out of my right side to drain the bile. I had the surgery almost 4 weeks ago and I have gone to the doctors every week since I’ve been out of the hospital(I was in the hospital for 6 days). I go back to the doctors in afew days once again to see if the jp tube can be removied and once again it wont be removied because its still draining to much and it is draining more now then it has been. Im scared that Im ging to have to have another surgery. Can anyone give my any information on what I should do or an information of any kind on this.
Jamie:
I don’t have information on this situation. I hope your condition improves. Keep checking the site – some of the other readers may have similar experiences. Each day the site gets new visitors. Also, please keep us updated.
I had the same exact thing happen to me. I am 5 weeks post surgery and miserable with my jp tube in. How long did you have it in? Are you recovering well? The dr keeps telling me that when the draining stops in the jp he can take it out. I’m getting to the point that I don’t think it will ever come out.
I had my gall bladder removed 4-2011 and bile duct was cut. Now 8 mos. later I am experiencing horrific back pain that is apparently gas. Has anyone had these symptoms? Have taken tons of Gas X. Bobbye
I had an emergency lap chole in Oct 2011. I have had horrible RUQ pain, nausea (no vomiting), severe diarrhea, and mild back pain every since. I found out today that I’ve lost 34 pounds since the surgery! I’m afraid to be too far from a restroom and my appetite comes and goes. Above all, I am overly exhausted. I regret having the surgery done. I was given a statin drug to help remove the fat from my blood stream…that only made the nausea worse. I had an endoscopy done which showed that I have severe inflammation of the esophagus and the stomach. I’ve recently switched my primary doctor and I may change my GI specialist as well. No one is willing to give me any answers to why I feel this way. At times I feel worse than I did when I had the gallstones. I’m 34 years old and since my surgery I feel as if I’m 64 years old. My next step….let them open me up again to see if I have a duct injury.
Jacqui:
I’m sorry to hear you’re having some issues. Feel free to share what your new medical team decides to do.
My husband just had his gallbladder removed just under 2 weeks ago after having removed he felt better for about 4 days then started having adominal pain, nausa, and vomiting. He is still in the hospital waiting for doctors to figure out what’s wrong…they just let us know today after being here almost a week that he could have a hole in his bile duct and if that’s the problem they would talk about putting a stint in…I don’t understand why it took this long to figure that this could be the problem.
After suffering for 7 months and 4 visits to the ER they finally diagnosed me with an infected galbladder and I just had my galbladder removed on 1/29. I had a jp drain as well, was released on 1/30 (they did take out the drain before I left) and was back to work on 1/31. I had lap. chol. and was steadily feeling better. On 2/4 I had the worst “attack” of my life. I was sweating profusely, severe pain, nausea and almost blacked out from the pain. The next day I threw up (or heaved because eventually nothing was coming up anyway) every 20 minutes for almost 4 hours. I was admitted to the hospital with elevated Liver numbers and billirubins. I was jaundiced. I was in the hospital for 6 days before they released me and I was never even diagnosed. They did a HIDA-scan (the dye never left my liver after continuing to photograph up to 12 hours later) and additionaly had an endoscopy during this time and they STILL couldn’t “find” what was causing the problem. My liver and billirubin numbers steadily improved and even though they didn’t “find” the problem they released me to go home. Now I’m having so much acid reflux. I can feel it bubbling up and taste it in my mouth. I’m 33 years old and 130 lbs. I’m an athlete and I’ve never been in the hospital so long. I’m so very frustrated with this whole debacle. I don’t know what to do next. Eating is scary cause I don’t know what is “safe”. Even foods listed as safe sometimes cause pain.
I left the hospital after my gallbladder surgery with a drain tube in and it was left in for 2 weeks and although I was still drining, the Dr. yanked the tube. I went home and less than 24 hours later I was in the ER in my home town and they sent me home telling me there was nothing wrong! I was in severe pain for a few more hours and decided to drive over an hour to a larger hospital. Long story short I was in the hospital for a month (with a 3 week old baby who I was forced to be seperated from), endured many surgeries and discovered where the Dr. who performed my gallbladder surgery completely severed my main bile duct and racked up several hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. When I went to an attorney, I was told that my situation was by no means rare and that it would be a waste of my time to pursue settlement for the amount of my medical bills. (I did not want pain and suffering, just payment for all of the medical charges). Should I have persued a second opinion or was this attorney correct?
I came down with flu like symptoms the 1st part or oct.2009.ultra
sound & bloodwork showed gallstones & enlarged coomon bile duct.
I meet with surgeon in Boise,scheduled surgery 4 monday oct.19,2009.Iwas told by my Dr. it would be an open surg.
Surgeon said no he had done thousands with lazer.
sent to my sons house in the area to recover,3 days later had fever pain upper R quad. back to ER. peritonitis stint placed & in hosp 6 days.sent back to sons.halloween nite after being ill 4 a few days To ER bileducsternum to pelvic
t rupered stint not lg enough to surgery and industrial cleansing of internal cavity that was basically stuck together with bile. during the month in hosp. I
had ng tube 2 vac’s in up & lower abd. TPN+2 other iv’s that infilltrated q day. sent for picc line sent to icu with pneumonia
o2 sats low upon taking staples out from incision split wide open
wound vac for 3-4 mon’s.@ my sons house frm 10-2009/til 4/2010
when stint was removed 4 more gallstones was found in commombile
duct. seen a lawyer an after 8 months said accidents happen.now
my cramping and burning is getting more freg
quent and sometimes last 5min .dont know what to do !!!