My wife was recently diagnosed with gallstones, and her doctor set her up for a consult with a surgeon who will be removing it (her gallbladder).
There doesn’t appear to be any plan for replacing the gallbladder, however. So, if it’s possible for her to do without it, why is it there in the first place?
According to wikipedia: In vertebrates the gallbladder (cholecyst, gall bladder, biliary vesicle) is a small organ that aids mainly in fat digestion and concentrates bile produced by the liver. In humans, the loss of the gallbladder is, in most cases, easily tolerated. The surgical removal of the gallbladder is called a cholecystectomy.
The gallbladder stores bile. Bile is the body’s…well, it’s kind of like detergent, in a way. It’s a grease cutter. It breaks down big globules of fat into little tiny bits of fat so it can be absorbed and used by your body.
The gallbladder doesn’t *make *bile. The liver does. But then the liver sends the bile to the gallbladder, and when you eat a lot of fat, the gallbladder sends that bile into the small intestine.
If you don’t have a gallbladder, the liver just learns to make bile more or less on demand and sends it to the small intestine directly. It can’t store a large quantity of it, though, so some people find that they can’t tolerate large fatty meals any more. There just isn’t enough bile available at once, so big globules of fat end up passing through. This can cause abdominal upset, heartburn and a general icky feeling. The solution is to not eat as much fat at once.
The gallbladder’s main function is to cause me pain and keep me awake at night. Other than that, it’s useless. And also what WhyNot said 
A friend of mine likened the gall bladder to Lefou, from Beauty and the Beast. His main job is to follow Gaston around and carry his guns and help him with the heavy lifting and tell him he’s doing a great job, but mostly he doesn’t get much screen time, and in the final fight, he’s nowhere to be seen so, really, Gaston can get along just fine without him if it’s dramatically appropriate.
Fun fact: horses don’t have a gallbladder. Neither do rats. However, mice do.
Is it possible to get a gallbladder transplant from another person or an animal?
Well, someone has to be first: that’s three.
The organ is necessary for the good word bilious.
So even if the green icky bitter “part” of the liver (it shows up often in separated out chicken livers for sale) is gone, the bitter bile is present in a calf or fowl liver, but it’s
What’s a gallbladder for, kaylasdad??
Is it just for the fats that we eat?
What’s it all about when the bile comes out?
Are we meant to eat donuts and spam
Or are we meant to be vegan?
And if gallbladders only get stones
Then I guess it’s wise to take the damn thing out
Nice vers libre. Do you have any models in mind?
It may be technically possible, but it’s just not done. It’s so much not done that when you get a donor liver, it comes with a gallbladder attached, but they remove it before they insert the donated liver into you. Just not worth the risks of rejection, stones, infection or Other Bad Things like kidney or liver failure that can happen when your gallbladder goes wonky.
Organ transplantation itself is a risk factor for gallstones, and some places actually require a gall bladder removal before transplantation of bone marrow and solid organs, even if you haven’t had trouble with your gall bladder yet.
Found some good pictures (drawings, not photographs) and more information here. It’s actually work safe, but the shape of the pancreas and small bowel kinda sorta look like a penis and scrotum if your boss is glancing at your monitor from across the room. Fair warning. Well - The New York Times
Thanks for all of the information, everyone.
And the – other stuff too, I guess.
Donuts and spam?
I thought it blads galls.
The gallbladder is like that old bondo-bucket you keep because it’s nice to have a second car sometimes but the moment the engine begins making weird noises, it’s too expensive to justify fixing. You don’t buy a bondo-bucket from anyone else because the risk of getting saddled with something that reeks of dead fish when it gets hot or has some other weird issue is too high; you can do without one too easily to risk it.
The appendix, on the other hand, is that weird thing you found in the back of your junk drawer. What is that thing?*
*(Not entirely accurate, perhaps, if the idea that the appendix plays a minor role in immune function is correct.)