Meticulous surgical skill and training help to prevent, as may the performance of cholangiography prior to disconnecting the gallbladder from the bile duct. Sometimes complications such as adhesions, severe inflammation or bleeding occur, forcing the surgeon to switch to the 'open' cholecystectomy using a standard incision for safety. A longer convalescence will be required. A US Consensus Development Conference panel by the National Institutes of Health, in September 1992, endorsed laparoscopic cholecystectomy as safe and effective, equal in efficacy to open surgery, but noted that it should be performed only by experienced surgeons and only on patients who had symptoms of gallstones. The panel noted that outcome was greatly influenced by training, experience, skill, and judgment of the surgeon and recommended strict guidelines for training, credentialing, determining competence, and monitoring quality.
Mild diarrhoea is common.
They may reform after dissolution. Gallstones in the bile duct can be treated by ERCP as outlined above. As this does not remove the diseased gallbladder, operation may still be required. Shock-wave or 'ultrasound' lithotripsy can be used to shatter stones in the bile duct and gallbladder, but can result in some complications and is still under evaluation.