Skip to main content

Acute Cholecystitis

Acute Cholecystitis



Overview

Cholecystitis (ko-luh-sis-TIE-tis) is swelling and irritation, called inflammation, of the gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ on the right side of the belly under the liver. The gallbladder holds fluid that digests food. This fluid is called bile. The gallbladder releases bile into the small intestine.

Most often, gallstones that block the tube leading out of the gallbladder cause cholecystitis. This results in a bile buildup that can cause inflammation. Other causes of cholecystitis include bile duct changes, tumors, serious illness and certain infections.

If not treated, cholecystitis can lead to serious complications, such as gallbladder rupture. These can be life-threatening. Treatment for cholecystitis often involves surgery to remove the gallbladder.

Symptoms

Symptoms of cholecystitis may include:

Severe pain in the upper right or center belly area.

Pain that spreads to the right shoulder or back.

Tenderness over the belly area when it's touched.

Nausea.

Vomiting.

Fever.

Cholecystitis symptoms often come on after a meal. A large or fatty meal is most likely to cause symptoms.

Causes

Cholecystitis is when your gallbladder is inflamed. Gallbladder inflammation can be caused by:

Gallstones. Most often, cholecystitis is the result of hard particles of bile that can form in the gallbladder, called gallstones. Gallstones can block the tube that carries bile when it leaves the gallbladder. The tube is called the cystic duct. Bile builds up in the gallbladder, causing swelling and irritation.

Tumor. A tumor may keep bile from draining out of the gallbladder as it should. This causes bile buildup that can lead to cholecystitis.

Bile duct blockage. Stones or thickened bile and tiny particles called sludge can block the bile duct and lead to cholecystitis. Kinking or scarring of the bile ducts also can cause blockage.

Infection. AIDS and other infections caused by viruses can cause gallbladder swelling and irritation.

Serious illness. Very serious illness can damage blood vessels and lessen blood flow to the gallbladder. This can lead to cholecystitis.

Risk factors

Having gallstones is the main risk factor for getting cholecystitis.

Complications

If not treated, cholecystitis can lead to serious complications, including:

Infection within the gallbladder. If bile builds up in the gallbladder, the bile may get infected.

Death of gallbladder tissue. Cholecystitis that isn't treated can cause tissue in the gallbladder to die. This is called gangrene. This most common complication mainly affects older people, those who wait to get treatment and those with diabetes. Gangrene can lead to a tear in the gallbladder. Or it may cause the gallbladder to burst.

Torn gallbladder. A tear, called a perforation, in the gallbladder may result from gallbladder swelling or infection or the death of gallbladder tissue.

Diagnosis

To diagnose cholecystitis, your healthcare professional does a physical exam and asks about your symptoms and medical history. Tests and procedures used to diagnose cholecystitis include:

Blood tests. Blood tests can look for signs of an infection or other gallbladder issues.

Imaging tests that show your gallbladder. Abdominal ultrasound, endoscopic ultrasound, CT scan or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography can make pictures of your gallbladder and bile ducts. These pictures may show signs of cholecystitis or stones in the bile ducts and gallbladder.

A scan that shows the movement of bile through the body. A hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scan tracks the making and flow of bile from the liver to the small intestine. A HIDA scan involves putting a radioactive dye into your body. The dye attaches to the cells that make bile. During the scan, the dye can be seen as it travels with the bile through the bile ducts. This can show any blockages.

Treatment

Treatment for cholecystitis most often involves a hospital stay to control the swelling and irritation, called inflammation, in your gallbladder. Sometimes, surgery is needed.

At the hospital, treatments to control your symptoms may include:

Fasting. You may not be able to eat or drink at first to take stress off your inflamed gallbladder.

Fluids through a vein in your arm. This treatment helps prevent loss of body fluids, called dehydration.

Antibiotics to fight infection. You might need these if your gallbladder is infected.

Pain medicines. These can help control pain until the inflammation in your gallbladder is relieved.

Procedure to remove stones. You may have a procedure called an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). This procedure uses dye to make the bile ducts show up during imaging. Then a healthcare professional can use instruments to remove stones blocking the bile ducts or cystic duct.

Gallbladder drainage. Sometimes, gallbladder drainage, called cholecystostomy, can remove infection. You might have this procedure if you can't have surgery to remove your gallbladder. To drain the gallbladder, a healthcare professional can go through the skin on the belly. This method is called percutaneous drainage. Or the health professional could pass a scope through the mouth, called endoscopic drainage.

Your symptoms are likely to get better in 2 to 3 days. But gallbladder inflammation often returns. In time, most people with cholecystitis need surgery to remove the gallbladder.

Gallbladder removal surgery

The procedure to remove the gallbladder is called a cholecystectomy. Most often, this is a minimally invasive procedure called laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This type of surgery uses a few tiny cuts called incisions in your belly. An open procedure, in which a long incision is made in your belly, is rarely needed.

The timing of surgery depends on how bad your symptoms are and your overall risk of complications during and after surgery. If your surgical risk is low, you might have surgery during your hospital stay.

Once your gallbladder is removed, bile flows from your liver into your small intestine, rather than being stored in your gallbladder. You can still digest food without a gallbladder.

Type of Doctor Department : Gastroenterologist

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Charge Syndrome

Overview CHARGE syndrome is a recognizable genetic syndrome with known pattern of features. It is an extremely complex syndrome, involving extensive medical and physical difficulties that differ from child to child. CHARGE syndrome is correlated with genetic mutation to CHD7 and the prevalence of CHARGE syndrome is 1:10,000-1:15,000 live births. Babies with CHARGE syndrome are often born with life-threatening birth defects. They spend many months in the hospital and undergo many surgeries and other treatments. Swallowing and breathing problems make life difficult even when they come home. Most have hearing two little girls sitting on a carpet, one girl has a trach and is biting her finger.loss, vision loss, and balance problems that delay their development and communication. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, children with CHARGE syndrome often far surpass their medical, physical, educational, and social expectations. One of the hidden features of CHARGE syndrome is the ...
7 comments
Read more

Dehydration Due to Diarrheal Diseases

Overview Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. If you don't replace lost fluids, you will get dehydrated. Anyone may become dehydrated, but the condition is especially dangerous for young children and older adults. The most common cause of dehydration in young children is severe diarrhea and vomiting. Older adults naturally have a lower volume of water in their bodies, and may have conditions or take medications that increase the risk of dehydration. This means that even minor illnesses, such as infections affecting the lungs or bladder, can result in dehydration in older adults. Dehydration also can occur in any age group if you don't drink enough water during hot weather — especially if you are exercising vigorously. You can usually reverse mild to moderate dehydration by drinking more fluids, but severe dehydration needs immediate medical treatment. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ataxia with Vitamin E Deficiency

Synonyms of Ataxia with Vitamin E Deficiency AVED Familial Isolated Vitamin E Deficiency Isolated Vitamin E Deficiency General Discussion Ataxia with vitamin E deficiency (AVED) is a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by impaired ability to coordinate voluntary movements (ataxia) and disease of the peripheral nervous system (peripheral neuropathy). AVED is a progressive disorder that can affect many different systems of the body (multisystem disorder). Specific symptoms vary from case to case. In addition to neurological symptoms, affected individuals may experience eye abnormalities, disorders affecting the heart muscles (cardiomyopathy), and abnormal curvature of the spine (scoliosis). AVED is extremely similar to a more common disorder known as Friedreich’s ataxia. AVED is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. Vitamin E deficiency often occurs secondary to disorders that impair the absorption of vitamin E from fat including liver disorders, disorders of fat...
Post a Comment
Read more