Would gallstone lodged in neck of gallbladder require urgent surgery? (gall bladder, cyst)

[melissi]

Here are some new details I never mentioned or need to expand about my mother's gallstones in gallbladder.

Would gallstone lodged in the neck of a gallbladder for now 4 months should of required urgent surgery sooner than the feb 2021 appointment date, although before my mother choosed her preferred doctor for that surgery date in feb, the hospital did provide 2 other doctors while she was still in the hospital to do the surgery some time in november 2020 which she refused for certain reasons.

An MRCP and ultra sound my mother received in oct and nov 2020 both confirmed she has a or the same gallstone permanently lodged in the neck of her gallbladder since Oct 2020 causing 2 gallstone attacks(1 of her attacks was during a failed ERCP in sept) both with fainting, infection in blood and forcing my mother to be on anti-biotics while in hospital and then also while at home for an additional week, then later another week or longer. Although she has been off the anti-biotics for 30 days but started to feel sick again a day after Christmas and has again received anti-biotics only for 5 days. Her appointment date made in early november for surgery is in feb 2021, but since the gallstone has been permanently lodged in the neck of her gallbladder since oct 2020, should the doctor have declared a more urgent and sooner surgery date in nov or dec, instead of feb 2021 in which my mother has been strong enough for surgery since nov 2020, but the gallstone lodged in the neck now for 4 months seemed to make her appear older than she is at 78, you could tell its maker her look older and sicker all because the stone has been lodged in the neck since oct 2020. Is this doctor breaking hospital policy for failing to declare a more urgent surgery date? Should we file a complaint against this doctor but sadly my mother doesn't want me to for fear her doctor will think she doesn't trust him or his judgement.

[melissi]

Can someone(s) help with this please?

[ComeCloser]

Emergency surgery would be immediate. Right now!

A February surgery date would indicate she has cholelithiasis (gall stones) and if they become infected (cholecystitis) bad enough her gall bladder could eventually burst. If she starts to look greenish, rush her to an ED.

The stone in the neck, I am assuming you mean her common bile duct could be blocked but Im not sure.

It is possible she has been told to have it out before it gets too bad and she needs emergency surgery instead of a simpler and safer elective surgery. She gets to have a surgeon of her choice instead of whomever is on call in the ED if she allows the surgery to be done electively.

It is not good to let such a condition get so far along that the gall bladder bursts. The infection can travel beyond the gall bladder and put her in severe danger.

There is also the possibility that it can be handled laparoscopically if she gets it tended to in time. Chances for needing to be cut increase if she allows it to get so bad that it breaks, so not procrastinating is important.

You need to be calm. As long as she is eating and has good color and in no pain, then she still has time to keep her admission appointment in February. If the condition flares up so bad that her gall bladder bursts you will know, because she will be in a great deal of pain.

Best wishes to her.

[melissi]

Thanks for the reply. This is why her doctor should of arrived at a much sooner date for surgery in case her gallbladder bursts or the infection may be fatal. My father lives with her and she will inform him if she starts to feel really sick again then its to the hospital again. She wants to ask for another 5 days of anti-biotics so it won't come to that. She doesn't want another very serious gallbladder attack, hopefully it won't happen before the surgery date in early feb 2021. She is strong enough for surgery and im just wondering had she been a young woman of 30 with the same gallstone lodged in neck of gallbladder causing same symptoms if the doctor would of declared it as very urgent and book the surgery within 30 days instead of 4 months since doctors are suppose to assign a proper priority level per patient regardless of age. Her surgery is another month from now, I also hope the hospital will not close down due to covid19.

[Stagemomma]

If it were me, I wouldn't file a complaint but I would ask the doctor if the surgery could be moved up. Sometimes there are openings in the schedule (Scheduling is messed up due to covid).

When I went to the ER with a gall bladder attack it was a 4-10 days before they were able to schedule me for surgery. I definitely did not like worrying that I would have another attack in that time. They gave me pain pills and anti nausea meds, which I did not use.

[melissi]

Thanks for your replies. My mother finally got gallbladder surgery last week in early March and everything is fine, although she still needs more weeks to feel even better since it takes time to recover.

I may have been correct about my mother not receiving a proper priority/ urgency level and they actually cancelled her surgery in feb 2021 due to covid19, but I sent a few emails to Patient relations of that hospital before and after the cancellation that handles any concerns and explained in detail everything my mother went through since last year and before, and a chief of surgery addressed my concerns and replied to that department saying he trusts her surgeon arrived at a correct priority/urgency level although he doesn't have access to his patient list to confirm this, unless its possible there may be an issue with her priority level and if there is they'll let us know.

Three weeks after the cancellation they rescheduled her surgery to early march which she received it last week. So I recommend if anyone has a patient related concern for themselves or a family member or friend you should first get a second opinion from another doctor then if you need to send emails to Patient relations of that hospital explaining in detail what your concern is, it may very well help the situation as well. Although I don't know for a fact if it helped or made a difference for my mother's situation but it may have.