Treatment/Future Implications
Prevention
Maintaining a healthy body weight through eating health low fat, low carbohydrate foods and exercising regularly can help a person reduce the chance of developing gallstones. People with high cholesterol, Diabetes, or are overweight have a greater chance of developing Gallstones. Maintain a healthy weight and low cholesterol can help reduce your risk. People should also avoid diets that result in rapid or sudden weight loss, as they can put you at risk for gallstones.
Treatment
Most people who have "silent" gallstones in the gallbladder don't require treatment. People with intermittent pain can try avoiding or reducing their intake of fatty foods. To reduce pain and other noticeable symptoms.
If a person has gallstones in the gallbladder that cause repeated attacks of pain, a doctor may recommend a surgical removal of the gallbladder. This type of surgery is called a cholecystectomy.
If the gallbladder becomes inflamed due to the gallstones, it usually must be surgically removed. This inflammation is called acute cholecystitis. People with acute cholecystitis are hospitalized, given fluids intravenously and immediately given antibiotics. If the diagnosis is certain and the surgery is considered safe, the gallbladder is usually removed in the first 1 or 2 days of the illness.
Maintaining a healthy body weight through eating health low fat, low carbohydrate foods and exercising regularly can help a person reduce the chance of developing gallstones. People with high cholesterol, Diabetes, or are overweight have a greater chance of developing Gallstones. Maintain a healthy weight and low cholesterol can help reduce your risk. People should also avoid diets that result in rapid or sudden weight loss, as they can put you at risk for gallstones.
Treatment
Most people who have "silent" gallstones in the gallbladder don't require treatment. People with intermittent pain can try avoiding or reducing their intake of fatty foods. To reduce pain and other noticeable symptoms.
If a person has gallstones in the gallbladder that cause repeated attacks of pain, a doctor may recommend a surgical removal of the gallbladder. This type of surgery is called a cholecystectomy.
If the gallbladder becomes inflamed due to the gallstones, it usually must be surgically removed. This inflammation is called acute cholecystitis. People with acute cholecystitis are hospitalized, given fluids intravenously and immediately given antibiotics. If the diagnosis is certain and the surgery is considered safe, the gallbladder is usually removed in the first 1 or 2 days of the illness.
Cholecystectomy
Today in Canada almost 90% of all cholecystectomies are performed using laparascopic surgery under general anaesthesia. In these surgeries, a surgeon makes small incisions in the abdomen and inserts surgical instruments as well as a small video camera that projects a magnified view of a patient's internal organs onto a monitor. The gallbladder is removed through one of the incisions. A person is capable o living without a gallbladder. During the surgery the surgeon directly links the liver ducts to the small intestine, so bile can still be released into the digestive tract. No change in diet is necessary however the constant flow of bile can result in diaarrhea.
Medication
People who are unable to have surgery to remove their gallstone ridden gallbladder can take a certain medication to help remove the gallstones. The medication is ursodeoxycholic acid which helps to slowly dissolve the gallstones. This medication has limited success, it takes 6 months to work, and is only effective in 50% of people who take it. Even if a person does get rid of their gallstones using this medication, the gallstones usually come back when they stop taking it.
Lithotripsy
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), is a non invasive treatment to help break up gallstones. It uses an acoustic pulse to break up gallstones with minimal collateral damage. Using an externally applied, focused high intensity, acoustic pulse. The pulse is blasted at the area of the abdomen directly above the gallbladder to break up, and remove the stones. Unfortunately the gallstones will usually form again, the only way to permanently remove the gallstones, is to get a cholecystectomy, permanently removing the gallbladder.
Today in Canada almost 90% of all cholecystectomies are performed using laparascopic surgery under general anaesthesia. In these surgeries, a surgeon makes small incisions in the abdomen and inserts surgical instruments as well as a small video camera that projects a magnified view of a patient's internal organs onto a monitor. The gallbladder is removed through one of the incisions. A person is capable o living without a gallbladder. During the surgery the surgeon directly links the liver ducts to the small intestine, so bile can still be released into the digestive tract. No change in diet is necessary however the constant flow of bile can result in diaarrhea.
Medication
People who are unable to have surgery to remove their gallstone ridden gallbladder can take a certain medication to help remove the gallstones. The medication is ursodeoxycholic acid which helps to slowly dissolve the gallstones. This medication has limited success, it takes 6 months to work, and is only effective in 50% of people who take it. Even if a person does get rid of their gallstones using this medication, the gallstones usually come back when they stop taking it.
Lithotripsy
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), is a non invasive treatment to help break up gallstones. It uses an acoustic pulse to break up gallstones with minimal collateral damage. Using an externally applied, focused high intensity, acoustic pulse. The pulse is blasted at the area of the abdomen directly above the gallbladder to break up, and remove the stones. Unfortunately the gallstones will usually form again, the only way to permanently remove the gallstones, is to get a cholecystectomy, permanently removing the gallbladder.