Any surgeon / medics gall bladder query

[Fergusmum]

My DH was scheduled for keyhole surgery. This was swapped to open surgery as there was massive infection around the gbladder. Plus the stones were too large to pass through the keyhole. My query is should he have been on antibiotics prior to the op to prevent this hideous infection. TIA

This has just happened to my dad! He couldn't have the surgery with a huge infection so had to clear it with antibiotics first. His gallbladder is now useless from the infection so has had it removed.

Have you spoken to anyone at the hospital to voice your concerns? I'm no expert but doing surgery on someone with a big infection brewing doesn't sound like a good idea.

As a side note rollercoaster are really good at helping to move gallstones. Especially if you sit on the back carriage of a rackety one.

I'm not a medic, but consider myself quite an expert of gallbladders after tonnes of issues this year!

I'm not sure about the bit about the stones being too big for the keyhole. I believed that they brought the stones out in the gallbladder, then opened it up to look at them (I have mine in a pot as I had to go privately in the end and the nhs wouldn't let me have them - not the reason I went private!)

I wasn't allowed to have any surgery when mine was infected - I had to have a gallbladder drain out in to let the infection die down, then they did keyhole surgery. It nearly had to convert to open during the op, but I had a very specialist excellent surgeon who saved the day!

Re the antibiotics - the answer is not really..you can't just go on antibiotics to prevent an infection. Resistance is bad enough as it is. Sometimes they just don't know how bad it is until they get in there. Main thing is that it's done now. Focus on your recovery and life without the pesky organ that's been causing you so much trouble!

its a fine line - if an infected GB bursts during keyhole its very difficult to rescue the situation and it can lead to peritonitis. Much easier to manage with open surgery as I understand it.

They prefer it not to be inflamed when operating but honestly my undertanding is that infected is the norm

I had the exact same problem. I had no signs at all of infection prior to surgery so no apparent need for antibiotics. I was on IV antibiotics post-surgery though. It's quite difficult to find someone who's had open surgery these days, so if you have any questions about recovery please ask! I had six weeks off work then a phased return. It's a much longer recovery than for keyhole.