I am 5 days post op and am doing pretty well except for a continuous pain under my right rib about 2 inches from my largest incision. Nothing was ever said by my surgeon or his office about a liver biopsy pre-op, but the morning of surgery the nurse asked me to sign a consent for the VSG and a liver biopsy. I questioned the biopsy, but she said it was typical so I went ahead and signed as I was already pretty anxious about everything that was about to happen. My question is.....how common is a liver biopsy with the VSG and if so has anyone had continual moderate to severe (at times) pain under your right rib area? I could understand a liver biopsy had there been previous abnormal labs or questionable cancer, etc, but not sure how this ended up being a last minute add-on to my surgery. Yes, i should have asked my surgeon more before my discharge but I wasnt as concerned at the time because I thought I was just having incision pain at the time. Now, I am becoming a little more concerned. I welcome others thoughts/ experiences with this. Thanks

I had one. My doctor does one on everyone. It has to do with determining the extent of fatty liver. He told me that in 20 years the number one cause of cirrosis (sp?) of the liver will be fatty liver due to obesity, not alcohol or hepatitis. We ALL had a fatty enlarged liver due to our obesity, but like the rest of our bodies, livers can lose weight. That's the reason for the pre-op diet.

Hope that helps ease your mind.

-Kendra

Its a standard procedure, so standard that they sometimes forget to tell you until you sign the consent. They also always send the stomach portion to pathology.

I think they only do it if they find a growth. I don't think they just do it. Sorry I meant my doctor.

Ok,thanks everyone. All of your replies have been helpful. I guess I just need to be a little more patient with the pain in that area. Hopefully, I will turn the corner soon. :-)

Either way biopsy results should be back. I suggest you contact your surgeon for the results on Monday just to put your mind at ease.

SherriRN what about your gallbladder? That seems to go wacko for many postop.

Ok,thanks everyone. All of your replies have been helpful. I guess I just need to be a little more patient with the pain in that area. Hopefully, I will turn the corner soon. :-)

Are you sure the pain is from the biopsy? Mine is an incision on the far right and my surgeon told me both before and after surgery that this will be the most painful as the incision into the muscle is bigger to allow the stomach to come out.

The pain is about 2 inches to the right of my largest incision just under my right rib. It feels like I was hit under the rib with a ball bat, especially if I happen to cough. I don't think it is due to my gallbladder, but anything is possible. I will def. contact the surgeon's office on Monday even if better to find out biopsy results, etc. Thanks again, everyone.

First I heard of the liver biopsy was when I signed my consent in pre-op. I asked, too and was told my doctor does it in every case. I figured the risk of complication from the biopsy was probably lower than the risk from having my stomach cut out so I signed. I am sure the results were back at my 3 week appointment but he didn't mention it and I forgot to ask. I am sure if there was something to tell, he would have mentioned it.

I also never was informed of anything they found or lack thereof regarding my liver biopsy, and I am over 3 months out. I did see a pathology bill, though, so I know it got sent. He did say that he wasnt anticipating my liver to be all that bad, since I am still somewhat young (39 at the time of sugery) and that I had lost 23 lbs pre-op.

-Kendra

I don't remember them doing a liver biopsy, but I know the surgeon and nut told me the better I did on the pre-op diet, the less pain there would be, and I must have done well as there was not a lot fortunately. I had a different pre-op than most, not liquid, but low fat liver cleansing diet to shrink the the liver.

I had the biopsy as well while having my VSG. It is to see how fatty your liver is. The surgeon said that mine was great on 10%fat thank god. I also had biopsy of my stomach when they did the EGD. I was told that both are standard practice for my Dr. I had a little pain in the area for about a week it got better over time. Good luck. Oh one more thing WELCOME to the sleeve side!

SherriRN what about your gallbladder? That seems to go wacko for many postop.

I forget surgeons make the big incision on the right side, too. Mine's on the left. Ha!

I didn't have a biopsy. I did have muscle pain from the big incision. I hope you find relief soon

I had a liver biopsy as well. I really like that they do that. It's good baseline info for the future. I bet your pain is from the large incision. That was the worst of my pain as well; although mine is on the left because I was previously banded. My port and my stomach came out through that incision. It gets better, so give yourself a chance to heal. You've had trauma in that area and its gonna hurt. I'm almost 6 weeks out and I still have shooting pain there periodically. It took 3-4 weeks for the tenderness in that incision to dissipate. Good luck!