8.4.19

A hefty tall 55 years old with opium addiction and depression (on treatment with anti-depressants) was hospitalized with acute abdomen and was found to have acute cholecystitis and a big distended thick walled gallbladder with a huge stone (around 5 cm) in it. He also had fecal impaction which was treated with enemas. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was not considered and an open operation was planned. Even then, the big empyema and the difficult dissection of the Calot’s triangle took more than 2 hours.

Photos clicked by Dr Jasleen.

13.4.19

A similarly hefty and tall male patient, also an opium addict, underwent a similarly difficult procedure. However, the gall bladder and the stone were not so big and so the laparoscopic cholecystectomy was comparatively an easier option. Also, this patient was not depressed and psychotic like the previous patient  and so was not difficult to manage postoperatively.