Cholelithiasis and cholecystitis- Gall bladder diseases

A person knows its body more than anyone, so it can know best about its problems. I am sharing here a little research work I’ve done during my sickness which had helped me fruitfully. Hope it does the same for you if you suffering from it.

Background:

The gallbladder is a small pear-shaped organ located below the edge of the liver. Its function is to aid mainly in fat digestion and concentrates on bile. The bile is a fluid which composes of materials: water (85%), bile salts (10%), mucus and pigments (3%), fats (1%), inorganic salts (0.7%) and cholesterol (0.3%). It is produced within the liver which further helps in the process of digestion.

When a person consume a fatty food it enters into the digestive tract and gets stimulate to secrete some toxins in whose response liver produces bile, emulsifying those fats. This bile may be stored within the gallbladder and during that period, bile becomes more concentrated which increases its potency and intensifies its effect on fats. Thus bile assists in the digestion of fat. This bile is then releases its contents into small intestine.

Causes:

For a variety of disordered reasons sometimes the substances contained in bile crystallize in the gallbladder, forming gallstones, which may cause progressive fibrosis and loss of function of the gallbladder. This condition is known as chronic cholecystitis. If these gallstones remain for longer time they get swollen over time causing the walls to become thick and hard which may precede to result into cholelithiasis. That is why, Chronic cholelithiasis is usually accompanied with chronic cholecystitis.  In this situation, the wall of the gallbladder gets inflammation and fibrotic, which may prevent the gallbladder from contracting; expanding normally and it get dysfunction at removing bile and other substances.  It could lead to infections that spread to other parts of your body and problems in digestion process.

Symptoms:

It often begins with the intake of fatty food. The patient experiences discomfort after a meal, including nausea with or without vomiting, flatulence, and an elevated temperature. Over a period of several months or even years, symptoms progressively become more severe.

The patient’s gets severe gallbladder attacks which are sometimes mistaken for a heart attack until they recall similar, less severe episodes that have preceded it. Low appetite is one of the major factor causes due to abdominal tenderness as the patient tries to suppress eating habits.  The classic symptom is pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, which usually onset within a duration from 1 to more than 6 hours. If the flow of bile has become obstructed, the patient may pass clay-coloured stools and dark urine. The patient tend to appear acutely ill, is in a great deal of discomfort, turns pale yellow in looks and whites of the eyes. Even get sometimes jaundices, which could lead to further serious condition. A low-grade fever is often present; especially if the disease is at chronic stage i.e. the gallbladder is completely infected. Apart from this pain that radiates from your abdomen also is felt to your right shoulder or back.

Diagnosis:

An abdominal ultrasound is the procedure of choice for the diagnosis of chronic gallbladder disease. There are many other ways also which your doctor may find suits you best on physical examination.

Treatment:

The treatment of depends upon the stage of disease. Asymptomatic one may be managed expectantly. Once it become symptomatic, definitive surgical becomes necessary to remove the gallbladder. The process of surgical removal of the gallbladder is called a Cholecystectomy.

Surgical options include older invasive procedure called open cholecystectomy and another method called laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become very common now as it has replaced open cholecystectomy being the first-choice of treatment unless there are contraindications to the laparoscopic approach. The patient is likely to recover faster in this approach.

Recovery stage:

Gallbladder removal is a major abdominal operation and a certain amount of postoperative pain occurs. Nausea and vomiting are not uncommon. The stitches on incision are removed as the surgeon find it fit. Activity is dependent on how the patient feels though walking is encouraged for avoiding problem in bowel movement.

Diet should include liquid substance form with no spice. Avoid fatty, greasy and oily food like fried and milk products or which are heavy to digest. The body need time to regulate the digestive system after the removal of gallbladder. The bile movement would be directly into intestine from now onwards and so diarrhoea is commonly found in the patients after surgery. This is usually advised relative to a period in accordance with the patient’s capability in recovering.

Postoperative syndrome may occur like white or change coloured stool,  fever, yellow skin or eyes, worsening abdominal pain, persistent nausea and vomiting, or drainage from the incision are indications that a complication may have occurred. Your surgeon should be contacted in these instances.

Stay healthy and keep smiling!

Regards,

Isha

 

June 26, 2012 by isha_bemyfriend Categories: HealthinessTags: abdominal pain, cholecystectomy, cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, digestion, diseases, gall bladder, jaundice, laproscopy, liver, surgery, treatment 3 Comments