Articles on general surgery: hernia, gallbladder, appendix and other common operations, including how keyhole surgery works, how to prepare and what recovery usually involves.
HPB surgery is usually needed when a liver, pancreas, gallbladder or bile duct problem cannot be safely managed with medicines, endoscopy or watchful waiting.…
No. Gallstones do not always need surgery. Most people who have them never develop symptoms, and silent stones found by chance are usually monitored…
Surgeons choose between robotic, laparoscopic and open hernia repair based on the hernia's location and size, whether it is a first repair or a…
Biofeedback can help some adults with fecal incontinence, especially when weakened or poorly coordinated pelvic floor muscles or reduced rectal sensation are part of…
Hemorrhoid surgery is usually reserved for people whose symptoms persist despite fiber, fluids and office procedures such as rubber band ligation, or who have…
Minimally invasive surgery recovery time is usually shorter than after open surgery, yet it is still measured in weeks. NHS guidance suggests many people…
A mild temperature in the first day or two after appendectomy is common and usually reflects the body's inflammatory response to surgery. A fever…
A mild temperature in the first 24 to 48 hours after appendectomy is common and usually reflects the body's response to surgery, not infection.…
A bile leak after gallbladder surgery is an uncommon complication in which bile escapes from the sealed duct stump or a bile duct into…
Fecal incontinence after childbirth usually results from stretching or tearing of the anal sphincter muscles, or of the nerves that control them, during vaginal…
Relief from pneumatic balloon dilation for achalasia typically lasts years rather than months, but it is rarely permanent. Large randomized follow-up found roughly four…
Gallbladder surgery is not fundamentally different for older adults, but the planning around it is. Surgeons weigh frailty, heart and lung conditions, medicines such…
Fecal incontinence usually happens when one or more of three systems fails: the sphincter muscles that close the anus, the nerves that sense stool…
A laparoscopic appendectomy removes the appendix through three small abdominal incisions under general anesthesia. The surgeon inflates the abdomen with carbon dioxide, inserts a…
A bowel diary before a fecal incontinence appointment is a dated record, usually kept for one to several weeks, of every bowel movement, leak…
After hemorrhoid banding, most people feel a dull sense of fullness or pressure in the rectum for one to three days rather than sharp…
A hemorrhoidectomy is a same-day operation in which a surgeon removes swollen hemorrhoid tissue through the anus, usually under general or spinal anesthesia. The…
Rubber band ligation and hemorrhoidectomy treat different degrees of the same problem. Banding is a quick office procedure that cuts off blood flow to…
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