Thursday, September 19, 2013

What is Cholecystectomy and Who Needs It?

How have you been feeling lately? Have you been experiencing pain that starts in the center of your upper tummy or the epigastric area that spreads to the right upper back of your shoulder blade area? Do you have trouble moving around and the pain does not go away no matter what position you take or do? Does you condition prevent you from taking normal or deep breaths. Did the pain start with the duration of 15 minutes then to 24 hours? Doe the pain keep you up at night or enough to wake you up from deep sleep? Does the pain occur after meals? Do you experience frequent vomiting? Do you have nausea, loss of appetite, fever, dark urine, yellowing of the skin, light-colored stools and chills? Better get yourself to the emergency room, these pains will not go away until the proper treatment/ procedure is done. This is a very painful condition that one should not tolerate nor dismiss as normal. These are the symptoms of gall stones in the gall bladder.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a procedure endorsed by the National Institutes of Health for the past 2 decades, as an effective and safe surgical treatment for the removal of the gallbladder or gallbladder surgery. The review endorsed the numerous benefits of laparoscopic cholecystectomy and its effectiveness compared to open cholecystectomy. This type of surgery is done requiring small incisions in the abdomen that allows the insertion of operating ports, small cylinder tubes about 5 to 10 mm in diameter, through which surgical instruments with a video camera are placed into the abdominal cavity. The camera transmission is seen via video on a screen where the doctors monitor the course of their surgery. 

The camera shows the surgical field and sends magnified image from inside the body to a video monitor feed. This gives the surgeon a close-up view of the tissues and organs. The National Institute of Health panel noted that this type of procedure, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, should be performed by certified surgeons, experienced in this form of surgery only on patients with confirmed gallstones. This form of laparoscopic surgery has now replaced traditional open cholecystectomy as the first-choice of treatment because open surgery leaves the patient prone to infections.

Why is gallbladder removal necessary? In America alone, half a million have their gallbladder removed every year. Cholecystectomy is defined as the surgical removal of the gallbladder. It is treatment commonly done on patients with gallbladder conditions or manifesting symptoms of gall stones. Mostly considered an out-patient surgery, meaning patients can be discharged the same day as the surgery or the following day. This type of surgery is done requiring small incisions in the abdomen that allows the insertion of operating ports, small cylinder tubes about 5 to 10 mm in diameter, through which surgical instruments with a video camera are placed into the abdominal cavity. The camera transmission is seen via video on a screen where the doctors monitor the course of their surgery. 

The camera shows the surgical field and sends magnified image from inside the body to a video monitor feed. This gives the surgeon a close-up view of the tissues and organs. It is one of the most common operations performed in surgery today. Cholecystectomy can be performed through a single incision through the navel using the spider vein surgical system to remove the gall bladder. This is a recommended method compared to the traditional method for it leaves only a small almost invincible scar. The gall bladder is a pear-shaped pouch found in the upper right part of your abdomen. It stores the bile, which is a digestive fluid produced by the liver, that aide the digestive system in breaking down fatty food. Gall stones are formed in the gall bladder when these substances are of balance. The sad thing is, in many cases gall stone problem may remain undetected, gall stones cause no symptoms until it is too late. Get checked by a doctor today.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

What Happens After Having a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy?

Does immediate relief from pain come after the removal of a person’s gall bladder? The answer is yes. The pain is caused by the gall stones found in the ill gall bladder organ.

Cholecystectomy is defined as the surgery in which the gallbladder is removed.It is treatment commonly done on patients with gallbladder conditions or manifesting symptoms of gall stones. Symptoms include extreme pain in the upper belly or the epigastric area that spreads to the right upper back of your shoulder blade area nausea, loss of appetite, fever, and dark-colored urine, yellowing of the skin, light-colored stool, chills and fever. Mostly considered an out-patient surgery, meaning patients can be discharged the same day as the surgery or the following day. It is one of the most common operations performed in surgery today. In the illustration above, you will see the following body parts:

1. Liver
2. Gallbladder 
3. Bile duct
4. Bile duct enters duodenum
5. Stomach

Cholecystectomy can be performed through a single incision or what people call now as “key-hole” surgery. This barely leaves a scar after the procedure. The great news is, the pain is gone plus it does not take long to recover from laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This is mostly considered an out-patient surgery, wherein the patient can leave the hospital on the same day or the following day.

According to medical practitioners, both laparoscopic and open cholecystectomies are generally safe procedures with a low risk of complications. The most common complication is infection at the incision site in some cases. So do you really need a gall bladder? The organ is said to be useful but not essential. A person can live normally after the gall bladder removal operation. Now what happens after?

After the removal of the gallbladder, a pathological examination should immediately be performed on the organ to confirm diagnoses and check for cancer. A follow-up procedure should be done if cancer is confirmed, to remove parts of the liver and lymph nodes as required. There is however what they call “post cholecystectomy syndrome” or PCS, this minority of the patient population statistically from 5% to 40% develop symptoms like persistent pain and gastrointestinal distress in the upper right abdomen.

Minor symptoms after surgery are gas problems and a bit of soreness. Some people though who have had their gall bladder removed experience diarrhea or bloating. You will need to consult your doctor regularly if these symptoms persist. Also it is important to note that a special kind of diet will need to be enforced. Mostly people are back to work in two week time with medical wounds perfectly healed, leaving an almost invincible scar. A survey done on laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients mentioned the enormous relief they felt after the surgery and extreme recommendation to everyone who has been diagnosed with gall stones in their system. They noted how their lives are so much better after the procedure. See your doctor today.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Bariatric Surgery is the Weight Loss Solution

Is your weight a problem? Have you exhausted yourself trying all the kids of diet, buying all those expensive fitness machines, going through extensive gym training for long periods, only to double your weight after a month or so? Have you experienced extreme weight issues since your teenage years and the situation is still recurring even after decades of determination to lose weight. Do not lose hope for there are procedures available to treat obesity. Do some research and consult a doctor to know which one is best suited for you.
Bariatric surgery is a procedure recommended to be performed on people who are obese. Extreme obesity is a serious health problem which cannot be resolved through exercise and diet. Types of weight loss surgery vary and often have a lot of risks and complications attributed to it like hernia, infections and blood clots. Losing weight is achieved by removing a portion of the stomach, biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch or sleeve gastrectomy, or by reducing the size of the stomach with an implanted medical device, also called gastric banding. Another procedure done to induce weight loss is the resecting and re-routing of the small intestine to a small stomach pouch or gastric bypass surgery. Having performed this type of surgery helped a lot of people get the weight they dreamed of. On the other hand, it is important to do your own research, find a specialized weight loss clinic near your house and get in touch with an experienced medical surgeon if this procedure is for you.

Medical studies explain that bariatric surgery, not only reduces obesity, also it manipulates the metabolism of patients which causes a condition commonly known as “metabolic syndrome”. 

Undergoing weight loss surgery does not guarantee that a person will no longer gain weight. The surgery allows a person to lose weight due to the extreme alterations done to a person’s system. However, it is up to the person, who went through the surgery, to keep the weight off. It is important to keep a strict diet, undergo a fixed exercise regimen and maintain lifelong extensive medical follow-up if one wants to keep the benefits of bariatric surgery and avoid future complications.

Dr. Christian L. Birkedal MD, Board certified General Surgeon, at 42 years old is a distinguished medical presenter, speaker and writer of medical textbook chapters for Surgery. Dr. Birkedal is a Clinical Associate Professor and teaches at Daytona Beach Community College’s branch of the Florida State University School of Medicine.

Dr. Birkedal treats preform procures such as gastric sleeve, gastrectomy, bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery) and abdominal surgery among others. Dr. Christian L. Birkedal’s office is located at 305 Memorial Medical Parkway Suite 205, Daytona beach, Florida 32117. According to a recent survey, Dr. Birkedal’s clinic was given feedback with their experience and scored 4.2 out of 5 for likelihood of recommending to family and friends. Visit his clinic today to ask about the best weight loss surgery (bariatric surgery) for you.