WHAT IS GALL BLADDER?

Risk factors for gall stone formation
1 Being Female
2 Obesity
3 Sedentary lifestyle
4 Pregnancy
5 High fat diet intake
6 High cholesterol diet intake
7 Losing weight very quickly
8 Certain blood disorders like Sickle cell anemia
9 Medications – Oral contraceptives, hormone therapy
10 Having Liver disease

Symptoms of Gall stone disease
1 Pain in right upper abdomen. This pain may be colicky in nature I.e. it is severe in intensity and sudden in onset and may persist for a few minutes to several hours. Or there may be continuous pain in right upper abdomen.
2 Pain in centre part of upper abdomen
3 Nausea or vomiting

Treatment for gallstone disease
Patients who have symptoms should undergo surgery to remove the gallbladder. This surgery is now done aparoscopically. This surgery is done under complete (General) anaesthesia. Abdomen is insufflated with a gas I.e. carbon dioxide. Four small incisions are given over the abdomen through which instruments are placed inside. Than under telescopic vision of high quality, surgery is performed where in gall bladder is dissected and removed. This gallbladder Is than taken out through one of the incision in a bag so as to avoid infection of incision site. After removal of gall bladder, gas is removed from the abdomen and incisions are closed using sutures.

Can gallstones be treated by medicines?
As of now there are no proven medical methods to treat gallstones.

What if I don’t get my gallbladder removed? (Complications)
Patients who are having gallstones that are symptomatic should get operated. Several complications may arise because of these stones.

1 Infection of the gallbladder (Acute cholecystitis) – These stones may lead to blockage of the duct which in turn lead to swelling of gallbladder with impaired blood supply. This can lead to infection of gallbladder to such an extent that there is pus formation (empyema) or even gangrene of gallbladder.

2 Jaundice – Sometimes a small stone may slip from the gallbladder in to the common bile duct. These stones may obstruct the pathway of bile from liver to intestine leading to jaundice. If left untreated this may lead to infection of biliary system I.e. Cholangitis which is a very severe infection with considerable morbidity and even mortality.

3 Inflammation of pancreas – Sometimes, some stones from gallbladder may slip into the bile duct. These stones while slipping from the bile duct into the small intestine may cause injury to pancreas. This injury can cause inflammation of the pancreas leading to pancreatitis.

4 Cancer – Stones in gallbladder are also a known risk factor for gallbladder cancer.