Risk of Laparoscopic Surgery of Gallbladder

The overall risk of laparoscopic gallbladder surgery is very low. The most serious possible complications include:

• Infection of an incision.
• Internal bleeding.
• Injury to the common bile duct.
• Injury to the small intestine by one of the instruments used during surgery.
• Risks of general anesthesia.
  

Other uncommon complications may include:

• Injury to the cystic duct, which carries bile from the gallbladder to the common bile duct.
• Gallstones that remain in the abdominal cavity.
• Bile that leaks into the abdominal cavity.
• Injury to abdominal blood vessels, such as the major blood vessel carrying blood from the heart to the liver (hepatic artery). This is rare.
• A gallstone being pushed into the common bile duct.
• The liver being cut.
• More surgery may be needed to repair these complications.
• After gallbladder surgery, some people have ongoing abdominal symptoms, such as pain, bloating, gas, and diarrhea (postcholecystectomy syndrome).