Is a drain necessary after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy?
Patient: I had a laparascopic cholesystectomy on friday so i am 4 days post op now. I had a drain inserted after my surgery which i had removed yesterday before i was discharged from hospital. Why would i have needed this drain, and is it normal to hurt me now? I am having a bit of pain when i move and breath in deeply, and also when coughing. Doctor: Hallo,First of all , laparoscopic cholecystectomy is one of the most performed surgeries by abdominal surgeons. In most cases there is no need to place a drain.Sometimes when a operation was more "bleeding" then expected it can be useful to put a drain to have remaining fluid removed postop out of your belly. That's better to have it out than it would stay in off course.So it's difficult to see if a drain was necessary for your operation, that's most of the time a peroperative decision by the surgeon.  The pain after removing the drain must go away pretty quick. Sometimes patients might suffer for 1-2 days after removing and a simple pain killer can relief the pain. It depends also on which type of drain was used (with or without suction for example). If the pain continues or even gets worse, then I perform a control ultrasound and blood exam to check whether everything is fine. There might be a small collection of fluid for example that might irritate the diaphragm which causes pain, coughing etc...But I would wait another day, and if the pain gets worse, it's time to contact your surgeon again.Hope you get well and take care.