Cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder) is an extremely common procedure, and it leads to postoperative symptoms in 10 to 25 percent of patients. While these symptoms may be due to a previously unrecognized digestive disorder (such as irritable bowel syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), peptic ulcer, or pancreatitis), symptoms that are first noticed following gallbladder surgery may be due to other conditions. These include: strictures or narrowings of the biliary tract, which carries bile from the liver to the small intestine; gallstones that remain behind in the bile ducts; dysfunction of the sphincter of Oddi (a muscular structure at the end of the duct system that transports bile to the small intestine); and a condition called cystic duct stump syndrome, thought to be caused by part of a long cystic duct remaining after removal of the gallbladder.
You mention chronic diarrhea — this typically occurs when the gallbladder can no longer store bile salts, which in turn causes what's referred to as bile salt-induced diarrhea. This can be treated with a number of "resins" or substances that can bind up the bile salts and other factors that lead to diarrhea after cholecystectomy. Patients with new-onset diarrhea after a cholecystectomy should seek specific counsel with a gastroenterologist, as this condition may be very easy to treat.
Learn more in the Everyday Health Gallbladder Center.
Last Updated: 7/31/2006