What is the medical term for surgical removal of the gallbladder?

The medical term for surgical removal of the gallbladder is cholecystectomy.

The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile, a digestive fluid produced by the liver. Surgeons commonly remove it when gallstones cause repeated pain, inflammation, infection, or blockages. The operation may also treat certain gallbladder cancers or abnormal gallbladder function.

Most procedures are laparoscopic, using several small abdominal incisions and a camera. The open method uses a larger incision and may be needed when inflammation, scarring, unusual anatomy, or cancer makes keyhole surgery unsafe. Removing the gallbladder does not stop bile production; the liver continues making bile, which flows directly into the intestine.

The name is built from cholecyst-, meaning gallbladder, and -ectomy, meaning surgical removal. It is often confused with cholecystostomy, which drains the gallbladder without removing it. Carl Langenbuch performed the first successful cholecystectomy in Berlin in 1882.