Prophylactic Surgery for Gallbladder and Biliary Tract Pathologies

Abstract

Gallstones are a common health problem and have been diagnosed since the ancient world. Today, 20% of the population encounters a biliary tract pathology at some point in their life. Although 140 years have passed since Langenbuch’s first recipe for cholecystectomy in 1882, there was not much change in surgical technique. However, biliary tract surgery has developed with great advances in laparoscopic, endoscopic, radiological, and minimally invasive procedures. As a result of advances in diagnostic tools, many biliary pathologies are detected earlier. This early detection has led the clinicians to reevaluate the indications for surgery and also to search whether some conditions can be prevented by surgical removal before they develop. On the other hand, biliary tract traumas have become more common than ever before due to increasing initiatives with the contribution of developing technologies. New horizons have been opened in hepatobiliary surgery with three-dimensional imaging, navigation techniques, robotic surgery, and hybrid operating theaters. With the advances in embolization, stenting, and drainage techniques, more comprehensive and more tissue/organ protective procedures have been started.