At what size of gallstones is surgery recommended? Surgery is required if the gallstones recur.

The most common liver and gallbladder disease is gallstones. If gallstones are not treated in time, it can cause acute pancreatitis, which is very serious. If examination finds that the gallstones are very large, timely surgical treatment is required to avoid recurrence of the disease.

1. How big is the gallstone before surgery is recommended?

Gallstones with frequent clinical symptoms or gallstones larger than 10 mm require surgical treatment. If you have had gallstones in the past and then they are discharged into the common bile duct, causing common bile duct infection and biliary pancreatitis, you also need gallstone surgery. If the gallstones are smaller than 10 mm and there are no clinical symptoms of single gallstones, regular check-ups should be conducted. If the gallstones become larger, surgical treatment of the gallstones is required.

Asymptomatic gallstones can be observed and do not necessarily require surgery. However, if the stone is larger than 2 cm in diameter and has been discovered for more than 10 years, it is an indication for surgery because it may cause gallbladder cancer. If there are symptoms, it is calculous cholecystitis and surgery should be performed as soon as possible.

In addition, the decision on gallstone surgery should be based on many aspects of the patient, not just the size of the gallstones. Gallstone surgery has a certain scope of application, mainly in the following aspects:

1. The gallbladder lesions are relatively serious, the stones are relatively large, there is acute suppurative and gangrenous cholecystitis; perforation is accompanied by chronic peritonitis.

2. Gallstones are accompanied by obvious calcification of the gallbladder wall.

3. Fullness or multiple stones cause the gallbladder to atrophy and lose its physiological function.

There are several main methods of gallstone surgery:

1. Minimally invasive cholecystolithotomy is a new type of gallstone surgery. With the help of advanced equipment: choledochoscope, laparoscope, biliary duct endoscope and other special equipment, it can not only ensure the treatment effect but also reduce the harm of surgery to the body. The most important thing is that we can completely preserve the gallbladder and remove stones for patients with minimal trauma. It is the best gallstone treatment currently available. However, the prerequisite for this operation is to have an intact gallbladder, so gallstones must be treated as early as possible.

2. Drug treatment. Many patients who are unwilling to undergo surgery choose drug treatment. This method mainly uses drugs to promote the excretion of stones from the body. However, one thing that cannot be ignored is that the opening of the gallbladder in the human body is not large. Therefore, this method has certain disadvantages. Perhaps some small stones can be excreted from the body, but as long as the stones are larger than the opening of the gallbladder, they cannot be cured by this method. Therefore, this method is not recommended for treatment now.

3. Minimally invasive cholecystectomy is also one of the methods for treating gallstones. It is a method of removing the gallbladder to achieve the effect of treating gallstones. Generally speaking, this method of treatment is not recommended because gallbladder removal can cause some adverse sequelae to the patient after the operation. However, if the patient's condition is serious, that is, the function of the gallbladder is damaged, or there are other conditions that make the gallbladder unsuitable to remain in the body, then gallbladder removal is imperative.