Stones in the gallbladder – symptoms, treatment, diet

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Stones in the gallbladder are diagnosed in 20 percent. forty years old. People diagnosed with this disease often experience a dilemma: whether to choose surgery or not to operate. Because on the one hand, the gallbladder plays an important role in digestion. On the other hand, the body does well without it. What’s the best way out?

1. Gallstones are deposits made of cholesterol crystals and bile salts
2. Gallstones are more common in women. Genetic conditions are also important – stones appear in people who have had cases of this disease in their family
3. Initially, the symptoms of gallstone disease may be easy to miss – it is primarily digestive discomfort after meals. However, if the stone blocks the flow of bile, the symptoms worsen (severe pain, vomiting, nausea)
4. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

The gallbladder, popularly known as a bladder, stores the bile produced in the liver and needed for the digestion of fats. During meals, it is transported through the bile ducts from the sac to the duodenum, where the digestive processes begin. During this journey, some people do not know exactly why cholesterol and bile salt crystals precipitate and clump together to form gallstones (stones). Most often they have a mixed composition, but sometimes they are homogeneous, e.g. only from cholesterol crystals. They can be as fine as grains of sand, peas or the size of a walnut.

Gallstones are a female problem – deposits are 2-3 times more common in women than in men. It is only after the age of 70 that the chances of both sexes become even. A genetic predisposition to the disease is observed. If your parents or grandparents suffered from this ailment, chances are high that you will not miss it. Stones are more often formed in obese people, but also in those who use fasting or drastic slimming diets and with metabolic diseases, e.g. diabetes. Women who have given birth, take hormonal contraceptives or use hormone therapy are at greater risk. It is the influence of sex hormones on the formation of plaque.

Stones in the gallbladder – symptoms

Stones loosely resting in the follicle usually do not make themselves felt. Then we find out about them accidentally, doing a control ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, when we want to check the condition of the kidneys or liver. Sometimes, however, they irritate the pouch mucosa, disrupting its work. We then feel discomfort in the abdomen, belching, flatulence. Some complain of a feeling of fullness or crushing in the right hypochondrium or epigastric region. All of these may be signs that the pouch is not working properly. It is enough to eat something fatty or hard to digest or simply too much and the problem is ready. Ailments usually disappear by themselves.

The problem begins when the stone temporarily blocks the flow of bile from the bladder into the bile ducts. Then you suddenly get severe pain (colic) in the upper abdomen under the right costal arch, which can radiate to your back and right shoulder blade, even to your neck and collarbones. Usually it is accompanied by nausea, sometimes vomiting. The attack lasts from 10 minutes to 3 hours. Usually it occurs as a result of a dietary error, e.g. after a hearty dinner, but it may also not be related to food.

Are you looking for a facility where stones can be removed from the gallbladder? Check out the offers of clinics in your area.

Stones in the gallbladder – management

If the attacks of pain are prolonged, especially more than 5 hours, then there is a high probability that acute inflammation of the follicle has developed as a result of the stone obstruction of the alveolar duct. Then the pain is usually accompanied by vomiting, flatulence, chills and fever.

As the outflow of bile is blocked, more and more inflammatory fluid accumulates in the sac. The follicle grows in size and feels taut and hard. As the bile pigments are systematically absorbed into the blood, a watery fluid eventually remains in the pouch. This condition is referred to by specialists as gallbladder hydrocele. If its contents are infected, an empyema forms in it. Acute cystitis can lead to inflammation of the bile ducts, inflammation of the pancreas and peritoneum, so the ailments should not be taken lightly. If a colic attack lasts longer than 3 hours, you must call an ambulance immediately.

Stones in the gallbladder – diagnosis

The doctor recognizes inflammation on the basis of the classic symptoms, characteristic pain and an enlarged bladder, which gives elastic resistance under pressure. But the conclusive study is the ultrasound of the abdominal cavity. It allows you to assess the size of the bladder and the thickness of its walls, the location and size of the stones, and the patency of the bile ducts. In over 95 percent. cases, it is possible to detect even the smallest deposits (the higher the resolution of the apparatus, the more precise the examination). The image may be “unreadable” if you are obese or if there is a large amount of gas in your gut. Also important for making a diagnosis are laboratory tests, the so-called liver tests. It is so popularly said to test the level of liver enzymes in the blood. They are usually normal in urolithiasis without complications. Standards may differ slightly from each other – they depend, among others, on from the apparatus and reagents used for analysis. In people with inflammation of the gallbladder or bile ducts, there is an increase in biochemical markers (e.g. bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase) and an increase in the number of leukocytes in the blood.

Specialized examinations are necessary to determine the presence of stones in the gallbladder. If you suspect such a disease, make an appointment for an abdominal ultrasound today. You will perform the test in a short time, in many cities throughout the country.

If the doctor has difficulty locating the stones or suspects gallbladder cancer, a computer tomography scan still needs to be done.

Treatment of stones in the gallbladder

Treatment of urolithiasis depends on the symptoms of the disease, the location of the deposits and possible complications. If the colic occurs sporadically and it is not severe, you can use antispasmodics, choleretic and anti-inflammatory agents with silymarin or other herbal preparations with a similar effect. Relief is brought by an infusion of St. John’s wort, mint or simply a glass of boiled warm water with lemon or sugar-free cranberry juice. But you have to reckon with the fact that it only helps temporarily, not treating the disease. Usually, if someone has had an attack, the attacks are likely to repeat themselves, even if fatty foods are avoided.

If “plaque remains silent”, urolithiasis is usually left untreated. But when they cause discomfort or bouts of colic, it is better to remove the follicle before complications such as inflammation or the movement of the stone into the bile duct develops. The operation is performed immediately in the case of a hydrocele or empyema of the sac. Acute inflammation is first tried to heal with strong antispasmodics, painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs. Only after the inflammation has been removed, surgery is proposed. Sometimes, however, you have to operate in an acute state, and this may lead to complications.

LiverDetox – the Doctor Life dietary supplement available on Medonet Market at an attractive price, works to support the body in the case of cholecystitis and gallstone disease.

The appearance of jaundice (yellowing of the skin or conjunctiva) requires a quick visit to a specialist, as it indicates liver problems.

If you are not convinced whether the presence of gallbladder stones may be your problem, make an online teleconsultation with an internist. There you will get answers to your problems and learn what further treatment should look like.

Removal of stones from the gallbladder

Which follicle removal method you choose depends on the severity of your condition and your overall health. Laparoscopy is used in “easier” follicles, when the doctor does not expect any complications or complications that may occur during the operation. On the other hand, this method is not used in operations performed for emergency indications, e.g. in the state of acute pouchitis, or in very obese people, when the carcass could prevent the tools from reaching the sick follicle.

The laparoscopic method involves making four small incisions in the skin on the abdomen through which instruments are inserted. The operation begins with filling the peritoneal cavity with air. The abdominal shells rise, the belly feels like a balloon – this allows the doctor to observe the operating field and manipulate the instruments. The arteries and cystic duct are closed with special clips (it is not ligated as in traditional surgery). The follicle is then excised and removed.

The traditional method is used in acute conditions associated with stones in the gallbladder. It consists of one cut under the right costal arch.

Diet after removing stones from the gallbladder

Before the digestive system gets used to the new situation (bile flows directly from the liver to the duodenum), for 4-6 weeks you have to choose slightly digestible dishes (boiled, stewed, baked, without any sauces or added fat), lean meat, fish and dairy products, cold cuts poultry, eat 4-5 meals in small portions and drink 2,5 liters of water. Of the fruits, for example, peeled apples and pears, bananas, strawberries, raspberries, melons, peaches, citruses are allowed. It is worth drinking compotes because they are best absorbed by the body. You should avoid bloating vegetables, raw onions, mayonnaise, strong coffee, coarse-grained products. Then you can gradually enrich the menu, observing how the body behaves. Most people go back to their normal diet after the removal of the follicle.

In case of problems with the gallbladder, you can use hawthorn fruit, from which you can prepare, for example, tea. You can buy dried hawthorn berries at Medonet Market.

Stone in the pipe

If your doctor suspects that a gallstone has entered the biliary tract (stones rarely form there originally), a test called endoscopic ascending cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is performed to confirm the diagnosis. The doctor inserts an endoscope through the mouth (where the bile ducts enter the duodenum) and, after administering the contrast, observes the bile duct on the screen. If the initial diagnosis is confirmed, the coagulator (electric surgical knife) is introduced in the same way, through which the biliary sphincter is incised. Its mouth expands rapidly and the small stones fall into the duodenum by themselves, the larger ones are removed with a special basket, sometimes they have to be crushed. The procedure is performed under general anesthesia. If there are no complications, it takes about half an hour. It provides immediate relief, reducing pain, but does not solve the problem, because subsequent stones may block the bile ducts. Therefore, after the inflammation subsides, you still need to remove the vesicle with stones. Occasionally, stones from the bile ducts are surgically removed.

Get away from surgery

Some people, to avoid surgery, try to dissolve stones in the gallbladder with oral preparations (can be purchased at some herbal and health food stores). Most doctors, however, are skeptical about this type of therapy. The stones dissolve slowly, so it takes months or even years to heal. In addition, only small cholesterol deposits can be dissolved without calcification, and not all of them. If the treatment is successful, there is no guarantee that new stones will not form. In 10-15 percent people, new deposits are formed within a year, in 50 percent. 5 years after the end of the treatment.

In turn, crushing stones with an ultrasound wave (produced by a special device is directed at the gallbladder and the deposits in it) may result in serious complications (a piece of a pebble may get stuck in the bile duct and cause painful colic, mechanical jaundice, pancreatitis). Therefore, surgeons are against using this method.

To take care of your body, and in particular of the biliary tract, try Kocanka Sand Premium ™ – liver and gall bladder support – a dietary supplement available on Medonet Market.

Gallbladder surgery – price

Sometimes it’s better to cut it, though it doesn’t hurt

The question of what to do when a bubble full of plaque does not cause any discomfort is the most questionable. Supporters of the surgical treatment of asymptomatic urolithiasis put forward the argument that in some people the disease will manifest itself over time and then it may pose a risk of complications, so it is better to prevent this from happening by removing the follicle in advance. Opponents argue that 80 percent. people will not have colic throughout their lives, so surgery is not worth it.

There is no scientific evidence that chronic urolithiasis leads to follicular cancer. Such a hypothesis can be drawn on the basis of statistical data. That’s why surgeons sometimes suggest removing the follicle even though it doesn’t hurt. The indication for surgery is type 2 diabetes (it promotes inflammation) and the presence of thickened walls of the follicle on ultrasound (this may indicate chronic inflammation, which sometimes leads to the development of cancer). In addition, indications are some autoimmune diseases, planned organ transplantation, cardiac surgery or dialysis. The operation is recommended for patients with porcelain follicles (calcium salts are deposited in the wall of the bag) due to the high risk of follicle cancer and with large stones (over 3 cm), as population studies also showed a higher risk of developing cancer in these patients. Prophylactic removal of the follicle should also be considered in cases of biliary neoplastic diseases in a close family history.