Innovations in surgical techniques have greatly reduced the time it takes to recover from gallbladder removal surgery. The old method required an inches-long cut and weeks of recovery. The modern method requires a few tiny cuts and only a week or so to get better. Managing the pain from either kind of surgery is a matter of choosing the most appropriate style of surgery, taking the appropriate medication and resting as necessary.

Laparoscopic Surgery

Ask your doctor whether you are a candidate for laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic surgery causes less pain and has a far shorter recovery time because there is less cutting and less chance of infection. In laparoscopic gallbladder removal, the surgeon makes several small incisions and inserts a tube with a tiny camera. The camera allows the doctor to see your gallbladder on a TV screen in the operating room. The surgeon then removes the gallbladder through another small incision. Patients normally can leave the hospital within a day and return to work within a week, as opposed to four to six weeks for open gallbladder surgery. Certain people may be ineligible for laparoscopic surgery. Poor candidates include obese people and those who have scar tissue through previous abdominal surgery.

Get Pain Prescriptions

Ask your doctor for symptom-control medication. Gallbladder surgery, even laparoscopic surgery, can cause significant pain, as well as nausea and vomiting. Your surgeon may expect this and prescribe you pain-management and anti-nausea medication. If you tolerate certain pain medications better than others, let your doctor know. Take medications as prescribed, and take only your own--do not borrow pills from a friend or family member, even if they're for the same drug.

Avoid Unnecessary Activity

Don't overdo your post-surgery activities. While your doctor will encourage you to get up and walk around a bit, do only what you feel is comfortable. Doing too much can aggravate your healing incision and cause recovery to take longer.

Watch For Chronic Pain

Keep track of how long your pain lasts. Long-lasting pain is not normal and may be a sign of nerve damage or another complication. For laparoscopic surgery, pain should go away gradually and be gone or barely noticeable within about a week. For open surgery, recovery still should be gradual but take several weeks instead. Pain that lasts longer than a few weeks or grows worse requires a follow-up appointment with your doctor.

Source:

clevelandclinic.org

Baylor College of Medicine

Mayo Clinic