Gallbladder Surgery For Selfpay Patients (Uninsured Patients)

Many patients have very high deductibles or have no insurance. U First Health is your selfpay surgical center option. You receive a free consultation for your gallbladder disorder to determine if surgery is necessary. The surgery (Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy) is performed as an outpatient at a local surgical center. All gallbladder surgeries are accessed one price (Includes surgery center, anesthesia and surgeon fees) so there are no hidden fees. Our patient concierge will provide you with traveling and lodging information to facilitate your trip.

Fairfield Inn by Marriott offers special nightly rates and free shuttle to and from the airport and surgical center.

Gallbladder Disease and Surgery: Dr. Robert Tomas
(Local Media)

About Gallstones and Gallbladder Surgery

• Approximately 500,000 gallbladder surgeries or cholecystectomies are performed each year in the United States.^{[i] <#_edn1>}
• Cholecystectomies are performed to address gallbladder pain, gallbladder dysfunction, gallbladder infection and gallbladder tumors.
• The most common reason for cholecystectomies is the removal of gallstones that cause gallbladder pain or biliary colic – blockage of the cystic or bile duct.^{[ii] <#_edn2>}
• Approximately 20 million adults in the U.S. have gallstones.
  ^{[iii] <#_edn3>}
• An estimated one million people are newly diagnosed with gallstones each year.³
• Gallstones are twice as likely to occur in women.^{[iv] <#_edn4>}
• Overweight people, older adults, Native Americans and Mexican Americans are also at greater risk.^{[v] <#_edn5>}
• Symptomatic gallstones may cause severe problems, from biliary pain to potentially life-threatening complications like acute cholecystitis and pancreatitis, or in rare cases gallbladder cancer.³
• Approximately 80 percent of people with gallstones go 20 years or longer without symptoms.³
• Once gallstone symptoms appear, they recur in the majority of patients. Symptomatic patients are 25 percent more likely to develop complications within 10 to 20 years.³
• Gallstones are the most common and most costly digestive disease, with an annual estimated overall cost of more than $5 billion.³
• Performing early laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis may help to reduce costs by preventing recurrent emergency admissions in these patients.^{[vi] <#_edn6>}
• Hospitalization after cholecystectomy, or gallbladder surgery, is due to the wound caused by the incision, instead of the removal of the gallbladder itself.^{[vii] <#_edn7>}

General Laparoscopic Surgery

• The first laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed in 1987.³
• More than 80 percent of all cholecystectomies performed in the U.S. are done laparoscopically.³
• Open cholecystectomies involve a 6-inch long incision vs. four ½-inch or smaller incisions for laparoscopic surgeries.^2,3
• In many cases a patient can go home the same day as their surgery, whereas a 3 to 7 day stay is typical with open surgery.³
• Pain and discomfort are more severe in open surgery and mild or minimal in laparoscopic procedures.³
• Major complications are rare (2.1 percent) and conversions to an open procedure are also rare (4.5 percent).^{[viii] <#_edn8>}
• Laparoscopic procedures generally result in better quality-of-life outcomes than open surgery.^{[ix] <#_edn9>}
• Most general laparoscopic cholecystectomy procedures average 90 minutes or less.¹⁴

_{[i] <#_ednref> National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Digestive Diseases Statistics; NIH Publication No. 06–3873, December 2005. Accessed January 16, 2009.
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/statistics.htm
[ii] <#_ednref> American College of Surgeons Division of Education. Cholecystectomy: Surgical Removal of the Gallbladder. Revised October 6, 2008. Accessed January 16, 2009.
http:// www.facs.org/public_info/operation/cholesys.pdf
[iii] <#_ednref> National Institute of Health. Gallstones and Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy.
NIH Consensus Statement, 1992.
[iv] <#_ednref> National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Gallstones; NIH Publication No. 07–2897, July 2007. Accessed January 16, 2009.
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gallstones/index.htm
[v] <#_ednref> National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Gallstones; NIH: Medline Plus. Accessed January 16, 2009.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/gallstones.html
[vi] <#_ednref> Somasekar, K. Costs of Waiting for Gallbladder Surgery. Postgraduate Medical Journal, November 2002.
[vii] <#_ednref> Mack, M. Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery. JAMA, 2001.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/285/5/568
[viii] <#_ednref> Larson, G. et al. Multipractice Analysis of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in 1,983 Patients. Am J Surg, 1992.
[ix] <#_ednref> Velanovich, V. Laparoscopic vs. Open Surgery. Surgical Endoscopy, January 2000.
[x] <#_ednref> Navarra, G. et al. Short Note: One Wound Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy. Br J Surg, 1997.
[xi] <#_ednref> Tacchino, R. et al. Single-incision Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: Surgery without a Visible Scar. Surg Endosc, September 2008.
[xii] <#_ednref> Goldsmith, M. Future Surgery: Minimal Invasion. JAMA, 1990.
[xiii] <#_ednref> Soper, N. et al. Comparison of Early Postoperative Results for Laparoscopic versus Standard Open Cholecystectomy. Surg Gynecol Obstet, 1992.
[xiv] <#_ednref> Raman, J. et al. Single-Incision, Umbilical Laparoscopic versus Conventional Laparoscopic Nephrectomy: A Comparison of Perioperative Outcomes and Short-Term Measures of Convalescence. European Association of Urology, August 2008.
[xv] <#_ednref> Saber, A. et al. Single Incision Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (SILS): A Novel Technique. Obesity Surgery, 2008.
[xvi] <#_ednref> Raman, J. et al. Single-incision Laparoscopic Surgery: Initial Urological Experience and Comparison with Natural-orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery. BJU International, 2008.
[xvii] <#_ednref> Kaouk, J. et al. Single-port Laparoscopic Surgery in Urology: Initial Experience. Urology, January 2008.}