Because stones will continue to form in the gallbladder, in order to remain stone free, drugs must be maintained for life. Shock wave treatment has many of the same drawbacks as drug treatment. Its removal should not alter your digestive or any other function significantly. A very small proportion of patients report increase in bowel movements. In the majority of instances the increase is not severe and settles in a few months.
All operations have some potential complications.
Gallbladder surgery is the commonest operation done by most general surgeons. Most complications occur in patients needing emergency gallbladder surgery. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a new way of surgically removing the gallbladder. Instead of cutting the patient open, a small pipe is introduced into the abdomen. Through this pipe goes a thin video camera, which projects an image of the insides onto a large TV screen.