Our gall bladder is a small bag like organ situated under the liver. Gall bladder stores bile and pumps it into our intestines when we eat any fatty food. In some people, stones form in the gall bladder due to various reasons. High cholesterol, obesity, rapid weight loss, intestinal bypass surgery, certain blood disorders etc lead to formation of stones.
In a lot of people these stones are silent. In some people, the stones keep passing down the ducts giving intermittent episodes of severe pain on right side of abdomen. In some patients, the stones can cause infection of the gall bladder called cholecystitis. They can pass in to the different bile ducts and give rise to obstructive jaundice and pancreatitis. Stones remaining for a long time can also result in gall bladder cancer.
These stones are most commonly made of cholesterol and so do not behave like kidney stones. These stones do not dissolve by drinking large quantity of water. They also cannot be dissolved or removed directly. The solution is to remove the stones with the gall bladder.
This can be done with a simple laparoscopic surgery. Using small keyholes, the entire surgery is performed within 30min and relieves the patient of all the troubles. Leaving the gall stones in not a good idea as they give rise to many problems resulting in a more complicated surgery and additional procedures like ERCP and endoscopic treatments.
As the gall bladder only stores bile but doesn’t actually produce it, its removal does not cause any permanent digestive problems. Patients lead a normal life after surgery. The surgery is a day care surgery with patients going home the same day. As it is done laparoscopically, patients experience minimum pain and recover fast. Patients are advised to consume a low fat diet for 2-3 weeks after surgery.
If you are suffering from gall bladder stone related pain or have been detected with gall stones, do contact your surgeon and get rid of the problem with a simple and quick laparoscopic surgery.
Need any medical assistance? Contact Dr. Deepti Thakkar.