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Spire Healthcare hospitals: Private gall bladder surgery in the UK
Spire Healthcare hospitals, previously known as BUPA hospitals, provide the highest standards of gall bladder surgery at their 25 hospitals located throughout the UK. With over 25 years of experience, their highly trained clinical and support staff are dedicated to looking after you.
Spire publish annual clinical outcome measures including rates for MRSA infection, for unplanned readmissions to hospital and for unplanned return to the operating theatre. You can check out key patient satisfaction measures at each Spire Healthcare hospital and find out how Spire Healthcare keep MRSA rates so low in its 25 hospitals.
All Spire Healthcare hospitals are registered with the Healthcare Commission.
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Spire Manchester Hospital |
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Going private for gallbladder removal (cholecystectomy)
The gallbladder, a small pear-shaped pouch in the upper right part of your abdomen stores bile produced by the liver. Bile is a digestive fluid that helps to break down fatty food, and it is carried from the gallbladder to the intestine through a tube called the bile duct.
Gallstones can develop if the bile gets too concentrated. These small, hard stones can block the bile duct, resulting in attacks of abdominal pain, nausea and fever. If these symptoms persist, removal of the gallbladder is often required. The body can function well without a gallbladder.
A gallbladder operation is usually done using “keyhole” surgery – also known as laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This means your surgeon can remove the organ without having to make a large cut on your abdomen. However, some people may need open surgery. Your surgeon will explain which method is most suitable for you.
Keyhole surgery is usually carried out as a day-case, but some patients may need to stay overnight in hospital. The operation is done under general anaesthesia. This means that you will be asleep during the procedure. Your surgeon will explain the benefits and risks of having your gallbladder removed, and will also discuss the alternatives to the procedure.
About the operation
Your surgeon will make two or three small cuts (about 5–10mm long) on the skin, above, or just below, your navel. Using a hollow needle, passed through or near your navel, carbon dioxide gas is pumped into the abdomen. This creates more room for your surgeon to work in and makes it easier to see the internal organs.
The laparoscope (a long, thin telescope with a light and camera lens at the tip) is then passed through one of the cuts. Your surgeon will examine the internal organs by looking directly through the laparoscope, or at pictures it sends to a video screen.
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Spire Cheshire Hospital - Bedroom |
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Specially adapted surgical instruments are passed through the other cuts to help move the internal structures so that your surgeon can see around them and to cut and remove the gall bladder.
X-ray pictures may be taken to look at the bile duct during the operation, so that your surgeon can find out if any gallstones are blocking the bile duct. Afterwards, the instruments are removed and the gas is allowed to escape through the laparoscope. The skin cuts are closed with dissolvable stitches and covered with a dressing.
The operation takes 60 to 90 minutes.
Following the operation, you are likely to feel some pain in the abdomen as well as “referred pain” in the tips of your shoulders - caused by the gas used to inflate the abdomen. This usually disappears within 48 hours or so.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is commonly performed and generally safe.
To find out more about having gallbladder surgery in a Spire Healthcare hospital, please call their treatment enquiry team on 0800 434 6600.
Where can I get treatment?
Self-pay treatment
You can choose to have one-off private treatment at a Spire Healthcare private hospital for most types of operations, procedures and tests. You’ll be seen quickly and receive your treatment at a convenient time.
As a self-pay patient, you don’t need private health insurance. Spire Healthcare willl give you a single, all-inclusive fixed price for your treatment.
Benefits of one-off private treatment with Spire Healthcare
- Quality-assured medical and nursing care
- Treatment in a clean and comfortable private hospital
- Choice of appointment times
- Tour of the hospital before admission
- Continuous care from your consultant
- Pre-admission information about your procedure
- Written discharge guidance
- Private room with en-suite bath or shower, if you’re staying overnight
- Healthy vegetarian and snack options for all meals
- Use of a phone* ,TV and radio in your room
- Visitors at any time
- Free tea and coffee for your visitors
- Meals for visitors*
- Free parking for you and your visitors (subject to availability)
* You’ll need to pay extra for this
To request an information pack, a guide price for any one-off private treatment or to discuss your personal situation please call 0800 434 6600.
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