Central Auckland, East Auckland, North Auckland, South Auckland, West Auckland > Private Hospitals & Specialists >
Dr Luigi Sussman - General and Laparoscopic Surgeon
Private Service, General Surgery
Liver and Biliary System Disorders
The most common disorder of the liver and biliary system is pain caused by gallstones.
These are formed when some of the watery fluid (bile) stored in the gallbladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. Gallstones may vary from the size of a grain of sand to a golf ball and there may be one or hundreds of stones.
Gallstones can cause abdominal pain, fever and vomiting if they block the movement of bile into or out of the gallbladder.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. A laparoscope is inserted into the abdominal cavity at the level of the tummy button. Surgical instruments are inserted through other incisions and the gallbladder removed. The procedure takes about 1 hour to perform under general anaesthetic, and usually will involve an overnight hospital stay. Return to normal physical activities usuallly takes one to 2 weeks.