Gallstones

 

The gall bladder stores bile produced by the liver, which is used in order to break down the fat in food. However, if you have a family history of gallstones, are over 40 years old, obese or have given birth before, the risk of having gallstones is relatively higher. The formation of gallstones are mostly gradual and commonly present in the gall bladder and rarely in the bile duct. The prevalence in males and females is similar.

Symptoms of gallstone

Do you often feel stomach ache or bloated after meals? This may not be general stomach upsets, and could be a sign of gallstones. Some gallstones are discovered during usual body checks or when patients go to consultation due to stomach ache. Besides fullness after meals, nausea and jaundice are common signs and symptoms of gallstones.

How to diagnose gallstones?

Doctors usually perform blood tests and ultrasound examinations to determine the presence of gallstones and their position. If it is suspected that the gallstones are located in the bile duct, an MRI may be required for further investigation. The most effective diagnosis is to biopsy the rectum, though it may cause hematuria and urinary retention. It can only be performed after being assessed by urologists.

Treatment of gallstones

  • Medications to dissolve the stones: although medication may dissolve the stone, the fragments of the stone may fall into the bile duct and cause obstruction, leading to bile duct inflammation. Once the duct connecting to the pancreas is obstructed, pancreatitis may occur. As medication treatment has many possible complications, most gall stones are surgically removed nowadays.

  • Surgical removal of gall bladder

    Gallstone surgery

    It belongs to minimally invasive keyhole surgeries which only require one small hole on the naval and using an endoscope or other surgical equipments smaller than 5mm in diameter. During the surgery, surgeons will use the equipment to separate the gallbladder and the main bile duct, removing the gallbladder and the connected artery. Finally, the gall bladder will be separated from the liver, and taken out.

The differences between keyhole and other minimally invasive surgeries are the scars after the surgery. The former one has a scar in the naval, which can hardly be noticed by the naked eye. On the contrary, the latter one requires 3-4 holes on the abdomen during surgery, which has more obvious scars than the former.

Keyhole surgery requires about 1 - 1.5 hours and 2 - 3 days of hospital stay. If the patient’s occupation is relatively static, they may return to work in about a week and recover within 3-4 weeks.

Gallstone post-operative care

After surgery, the frequency of defecation may increase since bile juice secretion is insufficient to breakdown the oil in the food. Therefore patients may have mild diarrhea due to indigestion. Most of them return to normal after the adaptation period.

The risks of bile stone surgery include wound infection, bleeding, as well as damage to organs nearby (such as duodenum and the colon), though it is rare.

The information on this website is for general educational purpose only.
Readers should consult their physician before considering treatment, and should not interpret their condition solely based on the information above.