Re: Sometimes gallbladder removal is necessary

Serious Complications Of Gallstones

According to Dr. Eldon Shaffer, Chairman, Department of Medicine University of Calgary, in May 1991 Diagnosis, if the severe pain lasts for more than 12 to 17 hours, or is accompanied by fever and chills, you may have developed inflammation of the gallbladder (known as acute cholecystitis) or inflammation of the pancreas (known as acute pancreatitis). This means you should go to the emergency right away, and be prepared to be admitted into the hospital.

With acute cholecystis, what happens is that trapped bile irritates and inflames the gallbladder wall. Seventy-five percent of the time the acute inflammation subsides with medical treatment alone. Of those 75 percent, 25 percent will have a reoccurrence within one year and 60 percent within six years.

The other 25 percent will develop serious complications necessitating immediate surgery. Surgery becomes necessary when the gallbladder becomes infected and full of pus, or when a gallstone causes the intestine to be blocked off or when the blood supply to the gallbladder is cut off. Occasionally, an infected gallbladder bursts, and the pus is localized to the area around the gallbladder. Rarely the pus spreads throughout the whole abdomen, which is a life threatening situation.

With acute pancreatitis, what happens is that the bile backs up into the pancreas where it causes it to become inflamed. This condition is usually treated with pain killers and intravenous fluids. If the pancreas is severely damaged, it can cause low blood pressure, heart failure, kidney failure, respiratory failure, accumulation of fluid in the abdomen and formation of cysts and abscesses in the damaged gland.

Serious complications of gallbladder disease such as jaundice (yellow skin and eyes) from the stone blocking the common bile duct, cholecystitis or pancreatitis occur in about one percent of people with Gallstones and are just as common in those who have never had any prior abdominal pain. Once any of these complications has developed, surgery is absolutely necessary.

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