Dr Scott Davis

Dr Scott Davis General Surgery
He did the Gallbladder Removal: Laparoscopic Method.

Well at least it STARTED as Laparoscopic surgery. But after they made their 4 little incisions and "got in there," Dr Davis discovered unexpected problems. A very condensed version of what they found was:
1) her common (biliary) duct draining the liver and gall bladder was full of gall stones at the junction to the duodenum (1st section of the small intestine);
2) there was also a lot of scarring in the same area of the common duct causing the common duct to be very restricted and tight at the junction;
3) the common duct, above the scarred area, was also "dilated" from its normal 5mm (slightly less than 1/4 inch) diameter (the Dr's example was "smaller than my little finger," to about 5cm ("3 fingers" or almost 2 inches) in diameter;
4) her gallbladder was tiny, "a little nubin" was the Dr's description;
5) her gallbladder was in contact with her duodenum and had created its own "communication" ("cholecystoenteric fistula" or hole) with or into the duodenum;
6) her colon was also "stuck" to her duodenum

Dr. Davis called in two additional surgeons (a liver specialist and the chief of surgery) to assist him. They "opened her up" with about a 9 inch incision and removed her gallbladder, repaired the colon to duodenum problem, repaired the "fistula" into the duodenum, and created a new "communication" between the common duct and the duodenum ("choledochoduodenostomy").

So a simple, "If all goes well you should go home tomorrow or the next day” laparoscopic surgery turned into “she’ll spend tonight in ICU and then we’ll keep you here for a few days in a room on the surgical floor” big time surgery.


For more on Dr Davis, click HERE
For more on Gallbladder Removal: Laparoscopic Method, see the next post.