Under general anesthesia, so the patient is asleep throughout the procedure. Using a cannula (a narrow tube-like instrument), the surgeon enters the abdomen in the area of the belly-button. A laparoscope connected to a special camera is inserted through the cannula, giving the surgeon a magnified view of the patient's internal organs on a television screen. Other cannulas are inserted which allow your surgeon to delicately separate the gallbladder from its attachments and then remove it through one of the openings. An X-ray called a cholangiogram may be performed during the operation to identify stones which may be lodged in the bile channels or to verify the anatomy of structures that have been identified. If the surgeon finds one or more stones in the common bile duct, he/she may remove them with a special scope, may choose to have them removed later through an endoscope placed through the mouth into the stomach using a procedure called ERCP or may convert to an open operation in order to remove all the stones during the operation.
After the surgeon removes the gallbladder, the small incisions are closed with absorbable stitches or with surgical tape or glue.