i'm 8 months post-op and still having horrible referred pain in my shoulder. i've lost 110 pounds, excercising regularly, eating small portions, etc. and still in intense pain at times. in the early days after surgery, i actually had to take my pain killers for the SHOULDER, not for the incisions.
i ran this past some of my nursing instructors who floated the idea about the cold, dry gas they use to inflate the belly actually causing damage to the cells within the body. damaged cells on the diaphragm could easily cause referred pain until they repair themselves, and possibly longer. i did some research and found that there are plenty of doctors now who use heated and humidified (that's the key, it needs to be humidified) gas and their rates for shoulder pain are quite low compared to those who do not.
it's something to ponder, for sure.