Over 8,000 gallstones removed, 70-year-old man heaves a sigh of relief after 5 years
The surgery lasted over an hour and it took six hours to count the stones
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The elderly patient had been suffering from persistent abdominal pain, intermittent fever, loss of appetite, and weakness, the doctors said. (Express photo)It was a moment of relief for a 70-year-old patient at Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurgaon when the doctors recently removed more than 8,000 gallstones from his abdomen – he had suffered pain and discomfort for more than five years. While the surgery lasted over an hour, it took six hours to count the stones, said doctors.
The case was managed by a team of doctors led by Dr Amit Javed, Senior Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology, and Dr Narola Yanger, Principal Consultant for GI, GI Oncology, Minimal Access and Bariatric Surgery.
According to Dr Javed and Dr Yanger, the patient’s gallbladder had swollen and was packed with stones. It was on the verge of a rupture, which would have led to the stones spilling into the patient’s abdomen, they added.
“The patient was in extreme pain when he landed in the emergency room. We ensured a careful dissection and conducted the surgery,” said Dr Javed.
The elderly patient had been suffering from persistent abdominal pain, intermittent fever, loss of appetite, and weakness, along with a feeling of heaviness in the chest and back for several years, as per the doctors.
Dr Javed said the patient was initially reluctant to seek treatment. “Upon admission, an ultrasound of the abdomen was conducted, which revealed a densely packed gallbladder. Looking at the condition, the team of doctors immediately performed a minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery to remove the massive number of gallstones. The surgery was completed in an hour, and the patient was discharged in a stable condition within two days,” he said.
However, one of the tedious tasks that began after the surgery was the support team counting the number of gallstones removed. They sat for hours post the surgery to count the number of stones — 8,125 to be precise.
Dr Javed said this case is rare. “The gallstones can significantly multiply over time if left untreated. In this patient’s case, years of delay led to the accumulation of stones. Had the surgery been delayed any further, the condition could have resulted in serious complications, including gallbladder infection, abdominal pain,” he said.
He said that in advanced stages, this could have progressed to pus formation within the gallbladder, thickening and fibrosis of the gallbladder wall, and even an increased risk of gallbladder cancer.
Most gallstones are composed of cholesterol and are often linked to obesity and high-cholesterol diets, as per doctors.
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