How to Cope With Gall Stones

Gall stones sometimes occur in the gall bladder. If you find out or you have symptoms, what can you do about them?

While the gall bladder is a small organ, it can malfunction or cause problems, like other organs. A person can get gall bladder cancer or other diseases, but the commonest problem is that of gall stones, which many people get.

What are gall stones?

Gall stones are actually small or large stones which are made from cholesterol or bilirubin, both of which are present in the bile in the gall bladder. Sometimes the stones may be many small stones a few millimeters in size or grainy like sand. At other times there may be just one or more large stones.

Symptoms and diagnosis

Very often gall stones do not cause any symptom, particularly if they are small. However, if you have pain around the area of liver on the right side of the upper abdomen, the pain radiates into the back or arm, or you have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, an occasional choking sensation in the throat or esophagus, bringing up bile in your vomit, you need to get yourself checked for gall stones.

A simple non-invasive test, the ultrasound of the abdomen, will reveal the presence or absence of gall stones. Once you have a diagnosis, the doctor will tell you the treatment options.

Treatment

If you have small, asymptomatic gall stones, you probably don’t need to do anything – people live with gall stones for years. However, if you have a large gall stone, your doctor will advise surgery.

There are gall bladder flushes and other home treatments available, and while people do say that they have been successful in removing gall stones without surgery, there have been no scientific studies to back this claim. And if you do have small stones and the flush tries to ‘flush’ it, a stone can very well get lodged somewhere and cause a lot more problems.

There is also extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) which is sometimes combined with oral medicine to dissolve the stones which are then passed out by the body. However, this is used only if for some reason or the other the patient is not a candidate for surgery.

The gall bladder is removed through laparoscopic or keyhole surgery under sedation, where three small cuts are made and the organ is removed. This can be done on an outpatient basis or the patient may be kept in hospital overnight.  If there are too many adhesions present, the surgeon may have to make a bigger incision in the abdomen to safely remove the gall bladder. This will mean a longer stay in hospital and a slightly longer recovery time.

Complications

As with all kinds of surgery there may be complication related to the surgery. There may be leakage of bile, post-cholecystectomy syndrome (PCS) is possible, and then there may be bleeding, infection or injury to the intestine or pancreas during the operation.

Some people may face a problem eating normal meals and digesting fatty foods. They may also suffer from nausea and vomiting. Prior to surgery, it is important to rule out any other digestive disorder like GERD, Crohn’s Disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It is also a good idea not to eat too much of fatty foods or drink too much alcohol.

If you have one or many large stones, the stones can get lodged in the pancreas, the bile duct or the neck of the gall bladder it can result in extreme pain, jaundice, pancreastitis and a trip to the hospital for emergency surgery.

Other Resource:

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/articles/114.html

http://www.gallbladderattack.com/gallbladderdisease.shtml