Gallbladder Surgery, Step by Step: What Happens During a Cholecystectomy
September 7, 2026
A walk through robotic gallbladder removal in the order it happens: where the four incisions go, how I get in at Palmer's Point, how the duct and the artery are isolated and divided, and why the gallbladder comes out in a bag.
Read more →Biliary Dyskinesia, Gallbladder Polyps, and Porcelain Gallbladder
August 31, 2026
Three gallbladder problems that are not stones: a gallbladder that will not empty, growths on the lining, and a wall that has calcified. How each one is found, what the guidelines say about size and risk, and how I decide whether it needs to come out.
Read more →Gallbladder Imaging: Which Test, and When
August 24, 2026
Four tests image the gallbladder: ultrasound, HIDA, MRCP, and CT. Each answers a different question. Three patient presentations show which test comes first, what each one shows, and why a second scan does not mean the first one failed.
Read more →Gallstone Pancreatitis: When the Stone Passes and the Damage Stays
August 17, 2026
A gallstone that stops where the bile duct and the pancreatic duct meet blocks both. How the obstruction sets off autodigestion, how the Revised Atlanta Classification grades severity, what the fluid and feeding trials changed, who actually needs an urgent ERCP, and why the gallbladder comes out before discharge.
Read more →Choledocholithiasis and Cholangitis: When a Stone Escapes the Gallbladder
August 10, 2026
What happens when a gallstone leaves the gallbladder and lodges in the common bile duct. How the blockage causes jaundice, how the Tokyo Guidelines diagnose and grade the infection that can follow, why two guidelines run two different clocks, and when the gallbladder should come out.
Read more →Acute Cholecystitis: When the Stone Doesn't Come Free
August 3, 2026
What happens when a gallstone blocks the gallbladder's outlet and stays there. How the Tokyo Guidelines 2018 define, diagnose, and grade acute cholecystitis, why the operation belongs on the same admission, and what we do when the patient is too sick for one.
Read more →Why Every Gallbladder I Take Out Comes Out Robotically
July 31, 2026
Part 3 of the bonus series. The case for adopting robotic cholecystectomy, the strongest evidence against it, and why the field is not yet settled.
Read more →Biliary Colic and Asymptomatic Gallstones
July 27, 2026
Whether a gallstone causes trouble comes down to one question: is it blocking the gallbladder's outlet? Here is why some stones trigger biliary colic and need surgery, while most silent stones never cause a problem and are safely left alone.
Read more →Robotic vs. Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy, Part 2: The EGS Setting
July 24, 2026
Part 2 turns to the emergency gallbladder: inflamed, swollen, and distorted. The robotic vs. laparoscopic evidence in acute cholecystectomy is entirely observational and genuinely split, and here is how to read it.
Read more →Gallstones, Part 3: How Do They Actually Form?
July 20, 2026
Most gallstones are cholesterol stones that form when bile tips out of balance. Here is how a crystal becomes sludge and then a stone, who is at higher risk, and why most people never know they have them.
Read more →Robotic vs. Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy, Part 1: The Elective Case
July 18, 2026
More than 750,000 cholecystectomies are done in the US each year, yet surgeons do not agree on whether to use the robot. Part 1 of a three-part series weighs the elective evidence, cost included.
Read more →Gallbladder: What Makes It Squeeze?
July 13, 2026
Your liver makes bile around the clock, but your gallbladder only releases it when you eat. Here is the hormone that triggers the squeeze — CCK — and why that pathway matters clinically.
Read more →Gallbladder: The Anatomy
July 6, 2026
An estimated 20 million Americans have gallstones. Before we talk about how gallbladder surgery is done, here is a tour of the gallbladder and the biliary tree, the foundation for everything else in this series.
Read more →Robotic vs. Open Surgery: How I Decide What's Right for You
June 25, 2026
Robotic surgery doesn't mean the robot is doing the operating. Here's what it actually involves, and how I decide between a robotic and an open approach for each patient.
Read more →What I'm Posting About, Starting Now
June 24, 2026
I've had a LinkedIn page for years and never used it. Here's what's changing, and what I'll actually be writing about every week.
Read more →AI in Medical Illustrations: Helpful, But You Still Have to Check Its Work
June 24, 2026
I tried using AI to draw the biliary anatomy for a patient education video. One tool invented bile ducts that don't exist. Here's what that taught me about using AI for medical illustration.
Read more →Technology in the Office: How I Use AI to Optimize Clinic Notes
June 22, 2026
Ambient AI, talk-to-text, and 'dot phrases' -- how I use all three to get notes, orders, and charges done same-day instead of catching up after hours.
Read more →Watch: how your gallbladder and bile ducts actually work
June 20, 2026
A short video walkthrough of biliary anatomy and physiology -- useful background if you're trying to understand gallstones, gallbladder removal, or why these symptoms happen in the first place.
Read more →GLP-1 medications and your gallbladder: what to watch for
June 15, 2026
Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar medications can raise your risk of gallstones. Here's what that means and when to get checked.
Read more →Why surgeons talk about a 'critical view of safety' during gallbladder surgery
June 8, 2026
It's the single biggest safeguard against bile duct injury during gallbladder removal — here's what it actually means.
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