Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. Cholecystectomy is a common treatment of symptomatic gallstones and other gallbladder conditions. In 2011, cholecystectomy was the eighth most common operating room procedure performed in hospitals in the United States. Cholecystectomy can be performed either laparoscopically or through a laparotomy.^{[page needed]}

The surgery is usually successful in relieving symptoms, but up to 10 percent of people may continue to experience similar symptoms after cholecystectomy, a condition called postcholecystectomy syndrome. Complications of cholecystectomy include bile duct injury, wound infection, bleeding, vasculobiliary injury, retained gallstones, liver abscess formation and stenosis (narrowing) of the bile duct.

Pain and complications caused by gallstones are the most common reasons for removal of the gallbladder. The gallbladder can also be removed in order to treat biliary dyskinesia or gallbladder cancer.

Gallstones are very common, but 50–80% of people with gallstones are asymptomatic and do not need surgery; their stones are noticed incidentally on imaging tests of the abdomen (such as ultrasound or CT) done for some other reason. The traditional risk factors for gallstones are the four "F's: female, fat, forty, and fertile. Of the more than 20 million people in the US with gallstones, only about 30% will eventually require cholecystectomy to relieve symptoms (pain) or treat complications.

Biliary colic, or pain caused by gallstones, occurs when a gallstone temporarily blocks the bile duct that drains the gallbladder. Typically, pain from biliary colic is felt in the right upper part of the abdomen, is moderate to severe, and goes away on its own after a few hours when the stone is either passed or dislodges. Biliary colic usually occurs after meals when the gallbladder contracts to push bile out into the digestive tract. After a first attack of biliary colic, more than 90% of people will have a repeat attack in the next 10 years. Repeated attacks of biliary colic are the most common reason for removing the gallbladder, and lead to about 300,000 cholecystectomies in the US each year.

Cholecystitis, or inflammation of the gallbladder caused by interruption in the normal flow of bile, is another reason for cholecystectomy. It is the most common complication of gallstones; 90–95% of acute cholecystitis is caused by gallstones blocking drainage of the gallbladder. If the blockage is incomplete and the stone passes quickly, the person experiences biliary colic. If the gallbladder is completely blocked and remains so for a prolonged period, the person develops acute cholecystitis.

Pain in cholecystitis is similar to that of biliary colic, but lasts longer than six hours and occurs together with signs of infection such as fever, chills, or an elevated white blood cell count. People with cholecystitis will also usually have a positive Murphy sign on physical exam – meaning that when a doctor asks the patient to take a deep breath and then pushes down on the upper right side of their abdomen, the patient stops their inhalation due to pain from the pressure on their inflamed gallbladder.

Five to ten percent of acute cholecystitis occurs in people without gallstones, and for this reason, is called acalculous cholecystitis. It usually develops in people who have abnormal bile drainage secondary to a serious illness, such as people with multi-organ failure, serious trauma, recent major surgery, or following a long stay in the intensive care unit.