Gallbladder: Should it stay or should it go?

[BypassTheBS 49]

My abdominal ultrasound test results are in!

The gallbladder is unremarkable. No gallstones or sludge identified.

I don't have any history with gallstones and I don't want to take the risk of gallstones developing after surgery because of the rapid weight loss.

Should the gallbladder stay or go?

Has anyone been in the same predicament or similar?

[ClareLynn 153]

Mine looked fine on the ultrasound and then had to quickly be removed within a month (I had to wait a bit longer but it was seriously bad). I am unsure if sludge actually shows up on ultrasound? That's what I had and in retrospect, some intermittent pains I had attributed to heartburn were actually my gallbladder before the surgery causing trouble.

If I could do it over again, I would have had it removed at the same time just to avoid a second surgery.

I occasionally feel uncomfortable when I eat very fatty meats, like carnitas or a ribeye but otherwise don't notice that I'm missing it.

[Sleeve_Me_Alone 656]

My PCP put me on a 6 month prophylactic course of ursodiol. I started it 2 weeks before surgery. I'm 18 months out and at goal, and have never had an gallbladder issues. It is not uncommon after WLS, but also not a sure thing. I'm not sure what the value in a proactive removal would be. Definitely talk through options with your PCP/surgeon!

[catwoman7 11,223]

they used to take gallbladders out routinely during WLS, but they don't anymore. Lots of us take ursodiol (Actigall) for the first few months after surgery now. It doesn't completely prevent gallbladder trouble, but it greatly reduces the risk. I never had any issues with mine (almost eight years out)

[BypassTheBS 49]

14 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

they used to take gallbladders out routinely during WLS, but they don't anymore. Lots of us take ursodiol (Actigall) for the first few months after surgery now. It doesn't completely prevent gallbladder trouble, but it greatly reduces the risk. I never had any issues with mine (almost eight years out)

With having no current gallbladder issues & taking the Ursodiol for hopefully only 6 months will greatly decrease complications