Tag Archives: gallstones

Other Treatment Options For Gallstones

There are other treatments for gallstones and gallbladder disease, but they are not widely available. Experts don’t know as much about the effectiveness of other treatments as compared to laparoscopic and open surgery. If gallstones are found in the common bile duct during surgery, they are usually removed while the gallbladder is being removed. Occasionally, a gastroenterologist may choose to use a special viewing technique to see the gallstones — an endoscopic retrograde chonalgiopancreatogram. The ERCP allows the doctor to perform a non-surgical procedure to encourage stones to pass more easily out of the common bile duct. A flexible, lighted … Continue reading →

Gallstones: Treatment and Prevention

Out of all the people who develop gallstones, only between one and four percent of them develop symptoms. If you aren’t experiencing pain or other symptoms, you generally don’t need treatment! If your gallstones do cause symptoms, you generally have two courses of action: watchful waiting and surgery. You and your health care professional may decide that it is best to wait and see if the pain and other symptoms go away on their own. Watchful waiting is often the best course if this is your first experience with gallstone pain and the pain is mild. If you aren’t at … Continue reading →

Gallstones: Symptoms

The most common symptom of gallstones is pain. The pain may appear in the stomach or higher up under the ribs on the upper right side of the abdomen (known as the epigastric area). Gallstone pain can develop suddenly and spread into the upper back or under the shoulder blades. It is often hard to get comfortable with this pain; movement does not make the pain go away. You may have trouble breathing deeply or normally. The pain can appear after meals or may wake you from a sound sleep. A bout of gallstone pain can last anywhere from fifteen … Continue reading →

Gallbladder Disease Overview

My brother and I were still in grammar school when my mom was diagnosed with gallbladder disease. Suddenly, the family diet involved a lot of baked chicken and a lot less salt. Diet and medication kept her gallbladder in check for a number of years; eventually she had to have it removed. The gallbladder is a little sac that hangs just underneath the liver. It stores bile made by the liver — the bile is used to help digest fats. There are two ducts that carry bile from the gallbladder to the small intestines: the cystic duct and the common … Continue reading →