7228 gallstones removed by laparoscopy from 43-year-old-woman

It took just 45 minutes for the laparoscopic surgery, but 4 hours to count the over 7200 gallbladder stones

SAGAYA FERNANDO
Mumbai: 23 September 2022

A 43-year-old woman having repeated attacks of pain in the abdomen was successfully treated recently for 7228 gall bladder stones by laparoscopic surgery at a hospital near Mumbai, India.

She is a well educated lady residing in Mira Road in the outskirts of Mumbai and was treated by Dr Bimal C Shah, a senior laparoscopic surgeon at Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mira Road.

The patient, a self employed professional, had been suffering from abdominal pains for the past couple of years.

On August 17, 2022, she decided to approach Dr Shah for treatment.

In normal circumstances, between two to 100 gallstones are removed during a surgery. But, 7228 gallstones is certainly rare.

The gallstones ranged from 2 millimetres to 5 millimeters in size.

“The entire gallbladder packed with so many stones was removed successfully by laparoscopic surgery also known as key hole surgery conducted at Bhaktivedanta Hospital on August 22,” informed Dr Shah.

“The laparoscopic procedure lasted for 45 minutes, and the patient was admitted for three days at the hospital for post-surgery observation. She has since recovered well and is back to normal life,” said Dr Shah.

When asked, Dr Bimal C Shah says that patients should not neglect stomach pain and pass it off as gas and acidity pain.

“A simple cost effective test like ultrasound can very easily detect gallstones. Most of the time the stones are silent and develop without causing much symptoms. A regular health check up can help patients detect such stones. Even after detection of stones many patients don’t consult a specialist or take treatment because they have no symptoms or very minor symptoms. But often many such silent stones land up the patient in emergency situations. Hence a visit to a specialist is advised in order to avoid serious complications which could be sometimes even life threatening,” said Dr Shah, adding that this seems to be the largest number of stones ever removed at least in India by laparoscopy surgery.

The human body is known to produce stones in various locations, most commonly in the kidneys, the bladder, the gallbladder and the appendix. Many of these stones appear without any obvious reason.

Gallstones are typically composed of cholesterol and calcium crystals. Gallstones are generally formed if the bile contains too much cholesterol, too much bilirubin, or not enough bile salts. It is also caused by consumption of a high-fat diet, heredity, obesity, diabetes, hormonal changes, weight loss and dieting, say medical experts.

(Patient’s name not mentioned for confidential reason)