How many of you had your gall bladder removed because of the surgery?

Hello!  I was just curious how many were told that it would be better to have your gall bladder removed?  My brother is 7 months post RNY.  Before he had his surgery his surgeon told him that it was common to have your gall bladder removed before RNY.  He had no issues with his gall bladder beforehand.  The doc removed it in March and then he had his RNY in June.  I'm just wondering how common it is or if its something uncommon.  Thanks!! :)

Luckily this is one thing I don't have to worry about.  My gallbladder was shot after having my first daughter, so I got that sucker removed.  I have heard a lot of stories about the gall bladder going south after surgery, and I'll tell ya.....that was some intense pain.  If you're gall bladder is just fine, I would say "why remove it if it ain't broken".  something else to remember that if you have it removed before surgery with no reason, insurance will likely not pay for it.

I had to have an ultrasound of my gall bladder and if any stones were there, it had to be removed during surgery even though only a very slight percentage of stones are symptomatic.  I don't think that it is done routinely for no reason or to prevent a possible attack during rapid weight loss, but that is in my neck of the woods.  Allison

Same here. A gallbladder ultrasound was one of the preop required tests (required by my insurance, not surgeon). I already knew I had stones though, from a previous ultrasound, so it was removed during surgery.

Thank goodness my surgeon took out mine the same time I had RNY.  I had a stone. Never had a problem with my gallbladder.  That's it!  But that was enough for me to be approved to have it removed.  Also some doctors will not do it, some doctors will do it just because of the odds you will have it out sooner or later with WLS.  Some doctors find it unethical to do surgery on patients that don't need it.  I was 59 last May and I am sooooo glad it's gone.  Ask your surgeon what his protocol is.  I wish you the best!!! Jane

Nope, one year post RNY and I still have my gallbladder.  No issues either.

 

Judy

About 30% of post ops have their gallbladders fail. You are probably aware that it is caused by rapid weight loss, surgical or not.

I had mine out a couple of months after my RNY. I wasn't surprised that it failed but the timing was a pain.

I was 10 months post rny when my GB was removed.  My surgeon does not routinely remove them with rny, unless there are stones. 

my gall bladder was removed the same day as surgery so its common in most cases...

It is common for some surgeons to go ahead and remove the gallbladder at the same time as the RNY (my insurance approval letter actually explicitly stated that they also approved the gallbladder removal as well), but this is the first time I have heard of someone having a separate gallbladder surgery (intentionally) before the RNY.  Every surgery creates adhesions, so I find it curious that they would intentionally do it beforehand.  Those adhesions might even cause trouble with the lap RNY.

About 30% of people who have WLS (any type except band) have to have their gallbladders out within a couple of years of surgery (I forget whether it was 2 or 3 years), so my surgeon prefers not to remove a healthy organ "just in case" (and that was one of the things I considered when choosing my surgeon). Unfortunately, I ended up being one of the 30%, but of all the people I know from my surgeon's support group, only two of us ended up having to have it removed (and we both lost more weight than most).

Lora