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82-year old diabetic with gallstones--surgery or not?

My father is 82-years old and almost died a year ago from a quadruple bypass--he was in the ICU for six weeks and then in various hospitals for four months. He has now been home about nine months and can walk but is generally weak (his lungs are not fully back to normal). He goes to dialysis three times a week. About two months ago he had three painful attacks of what turned out to be gallstones. The surgeon wants him to have laparoscopic surgery, but the lung doctor and my father himself seem to feel that surgery is not a good idea. He will be put under anesthesia. He is not in good shape now and we fear that going under general anesthesia would put him at a risk for death. But the surgeon says that another acute attack and the need for an emergency operation would be worse. Please give our family any advice! We do not want to put him through another surgery if possible. Thank you.
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2104860 tn?1333779994
I was refused surgery due to my cardiac situation and since then I wish to know how they can treat my gallstones!
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Avatar universal
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi, its best he has an elective cholecystectomy. The reason we recommend removal of the gallbladder in patients with symptomatic gallbladder disease is because they have a 1 in 3 chance of developing a significant complication such as acute cholecystitis, pancreatitis, cholangitis, etc. The risk of death when we are forced to deal with folks in the face of one of these complications rises 100 fold. Regards.
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