Gallbladder Surgery in Surat

Gallstones are crystallised deposits that form inside the gallbladder — a small, pear-shaped organ that sits beneath the liver and concentrates the bile used in digestion. They are among the most common reasons patients from across Surat — Athwa, Adajan, Piplod, Ghod Dod Road — come to see Dr. Piyush Khanna. Many gallstones cause no symptoms and require no treatment; it is when they begin causing trouble that evaluation and, often, surgery become the right course.

How gallstones present

The most recognisable symptom is biliary colic: an episode of intense pain in the upper right or central abdomen, often triggered by a fatty meal, sometimes radiating to the right shoulder blade or back, and typically lasting thirty minutes to a few hours before subsiding. Nausea and vomiting frequently accompany attacks. When a stone causes a sustained blockage, it can produce acute cholecystitis — an infected, inflamed gallbladder — presenting with fever, persistent right-sided pain, and tenderness. Stones passing into the bile duct can cause jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes) or, more seriously, pancreatitis, both of which need prompt medical attention.

When surgery is — and isn't — needed

Gallstones found incidentally on a scan done for another reason, with no symptoms at all, are commonly monitored rather than operated on immediately. Once a patient has experienced biliary colic, cholecystitis, or a related complication, removing the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) becomes the definitive answer — medications do not dissolve most stones reliably, and attacks tend to recur. Dr. Khanna confirms the diagnosis with an ultrasound correlated with your actual symptoms and recommends surgery only when the evidence supports it.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy — the keyhole approach

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has been the standard of care for gallbladder removal for decades. Three to four small keyhole incisions allow a camera and fine instruments to dissect and remove the gallbladder under magnified vision, without a large abdominal opening. The advantages over open surgery — less post-operative pain, shorter hospital stay, and faster return to normal life — are well established. For many straightforward cases, the operation can be performed as a day-care or overnight procedure. In cases complicated by longstanding severe inflammation, significant adhesions, or unclear anatomy of the bile duct, converting to an open approach part-way through is the correct decision for patient safety — Dr. Khanna makes this judgement based on what he sees in the operating theatre, not a pre-set rule.

Recovery

Most patients are mobile within hours of laparoscopic gallbladder removal and return home the next day or, for day-care cases, the same evening. Mild discomfort at the incision sites and brief right-shoulder-tip pain (from the gas used during the operation) are common and settle within a few days. Diet can usually return to normal within days — some patients prefer to ease back into fatty foods, which is reasonable but not always necessary. Return to desk work is typically within a week; more physical work may need two to three weeks or longer depending on the individual and the operation performed.

Why experience since 1991 matters

Not every gallbladder is straightforward — severe or repeated inflammation, a contracted gallbladder densely stuck to surrounding structures, or unusual bile-duct anatomy can turn a routine operation into a technically demanding one. A surgeon who has performed this operation continuously over decades develops the pattern-recognition to anticipate difficulty, the technique to handle it safely, and — crucially — the judgement to convert to open surgery rather than persist when it is the safer choice.

Related reading: laparoscopic surgery overview, hernia treatment, appendix surgery, or view all conditions treated. For hours and directions: contact. Detailed patient guide: gallbladder stones — symptoms, surgery, and recovery.