Arizona Medical Malpractice Attorneys for the Victims of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (Gallbladder Removal) Injuries

A laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a gallbladder removal surgery which is performed with the use of a laparoscope, a camera, and several cutting instruments.  Small incisions are made in the abdominal wall and instruments are inserted into the abdominal cavity.  While a laparoscopic procedure does not require the large incision which an open procedure requires, it has the disadvantage of providing much less visibility to the surgeon than the open procedure.

How Gallbladder Injuries Occur

A cardinal rule of surgery is to identify a structure before you cut it.  Unfortunately, during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, some surgeons fail to correctly identify the cystic duct coming off the gallbladder and end up cutting or otherwise injuring the common bile duct by mistake.  The common bile duct comes off the liver and carries liver bile to the small intestine.  Cutting it by mistake or otherwise damaging it interrupts the flow of bile from the liver to the small intestine.  If the common bile duct is completely cut and the error is not immediately recognized, the liver bile empties into the abdominal cavity, where it can cause peritonitis, a potentially fatal condition.

An injury which permits only some bile to flow freely into the abdominal cavity can cause a number of complications, including scarring of the liver and death.  When the error is recognized, a surgeon must perform an operation in an attempt to restore the proper flow of liver bile into the small intestine.  Even a successful surgery to restore the flow may leave the patient with a lifetime of abdominal, liver or bile duct problems.

Contact Our Phoenix, Arizona Medical Malpractice Law Firm for Claims Involving Gallbladder Removal Injuries

Contact us at (602) 648-3200 about any medical malpractice that you or a loved one may have experienced anywhere in Arizona involving gallbladder removal. Consultations are free and confidential.