Cholecystitis. Treatment in Germany
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Acute cholecystitis is a gallbladder inflammation, which in most cases develops due to cholelithiasis. The disease is treated with surgical techniques. The standard surgery is a cholecystectomy, which involves gallbladder removal. In Germany, this operation is performed using a laparoscopic technique, which minimizes the risk of complications and allows the patients to recover after surgery quickly.
Content
The standard treatment for cholecystitis is cholecystectomy, which is the gallbladder removal surgery. Doctors in Germany perform it laparoscopically, and specialized clinics use a single-port laparoscopy.
You can undergo your treatment in one of the following hospitals: Charite University Hospital Berlin, University Hospital of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, or Academic Hospital Brothers of Mercy Munich.
If you book your treatment on our website, then Booking Health will arrange your trip to Germany. Our specialists will help you to select a clinic and a doctor. We will book an appointment on the most suitable dates, help you apply for a visa, buy airline tickets, and provide medical insurance. An interpreter in the hospital will accompany you, and your personal coordinator will constantly be in touch with you for any questions.
Conservative therapy
Most patients require a surgical intervention to treat cholecystitis. Conservative therapy only helps to prepare for it. The patients are prescribed antispasmodics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pain relief. An acute inflammation requires infusion therapy for detoxification, the correction of water and electrolyte metabolism, and the elimination of metabolic disorders.
Although cholecystitis is caused by bacteria, antibiotics are not always prescribed. The decision is made individually. Antibacterial therapy is considered mandatory only in the development of complications, such as an abscess, gallbladder perforation, cholangitis, peritonitis, or sepsis. Antibiotics are also required for immunosuppressed patients.
If the doctor decides so, antibiotics can be prescribed even for uncomplicated cholecystitis. Antibiotic therapy reduces the risk of complications and progression of the inflammatory process. In the absence of any complications, the course of therapy is continued before the surgical procedure and one more day after cholecystectomy. In a complicated form of the disease, the duration of the therapy reaches 4-7 days.
Surgical treatment
The patient is operated on in the first three days after developing symptoms of acute cholecystitis. If the operation is performed later, then the risk of complications increases and the conversion of laparoscopy to open surgery.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is considered the standard treatment for acute cholecystitis in developed countries. Up to 93% of all surgical interventions are performed through short abdominal incisions. At the same time, in countries with poorly developed medicine, open surgery is still common, the number of which reaches 50%.
Laparoscopic surgery has the following benefits:
- less pain in the postoperative period;
- a lower cost of treatment;
- a rapid rehabilitation;
- a short hospitalization period;
- a less noticeable aesthetic defect.
The lethality of patients during laparoscopy is very low and amounts to 8 cases per 10 thousand operations. It is 8-9 times higher in the case of open surgery.
Germany uses the most modern techniques for performing the operation, so laparoscopy has fewer and fewer contraindications. German surgeons successfully perform it in pregnant women, elderly patients, people with obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or Child-Pugh class A and B cirrhosis.
In recent years, single-port laparoscopy has been increasingly used in specialized centers for the surgical treatment of cholecystitis in Germany. This operation is performed through a single incision instead of three. As a result, the aesthetic result improves: there are fewer scars on the anterior abdominal wall, which is especially important for women worried about their appearance.
Endoscopic treatment
Patients undergo endoscopic diagnostics and treatment if cholecystitis is combined with choledocholithiasis (bile duct stones). First, gallbladder inflammation is suppressed with antibiotics. Then, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is performed with the removal of stones from the bile ducts. The procedure is performed under X-ray guidance. Doctors perform the second operation three days later – an intervention for gallbladder removal.
Where is it better to undergo treatment?
If you suffer from acute cholecystitis, you can go to Germany. But it is necessary to undergo your treatment as soon as possible, preferably in the first three days after the onset of symptoms. The specialists of the Booking Health company will take care of the arrangement of your urgent treatment in Germany. We will agree with the hospital administration and book airline tickets for the next dates.
Why is it better to perform the operation within three days:
- the duration of your hospital stay will be four days shorter;
- the risk of complications is reduced from 6,5% to 0,5%;
- The probability of switching from laparoscopic to open surgery is close to zero, while in a delayed intervention, the risk of conversion reaches 20%.
You are kindly welcome to use the Booking Health service to make an appointment for your treatment on the most suitable dates and at a favorable price. Due to the lack of additional coefficients for foreign patients, your medical services' cost will be lower. We will help you select the clinics in Germany, advise you on any questions that may arise, and fully organize your trip.
Authors:
The article was edited by medical experts, board-certified doctors Dr. Nadezhda Ivanisova and Dr. Sergey Pashchenko. For the treatment of the conditions referred to in the article, you must consult a doctor; the information in the article is not intended for self-medication!
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