General laparoscopic surgery
Common, often silent, but painful once they start causing trouble.
Your surgeon: Stefanos Lazaridis MD, FRCS, Director, 11th Surgical Clinic for Obesity & Reflux, Metropolitan General, Athens · formerly NHS Consultant in Upper GI & Bariatric Surgery, London
Short answer
Gallstones are small stones that form in the gallbladder, a small sac under the liver that stores bile. Many people have them without knowing. When stones block the outlet of the gallbladder, they cause attacks of pain in the upper right abdomen, often after a fatty meal. Once gallstones cause symptoms, the definitive treatment is removal of the gallbladder by laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Symptoms
These can be signs of inflammation of the gallbladder, a stone in the bile duct, or pancreatitis.
Diagnosis
An abdominal ultrasound is the main test and finds most gallstones. Blood tests check for inflammation and for effects on the liver and pancreas. If a stone in the bile duct is suspected, an MRI scan (MRCP) may be needed.
Treatment
Gallstones that cause no symptoms, found by chance, usually do not need treatment. Once they cause pain or a complication, the attacks tend to recur and complications become more likely, so removal of the gallbladder is recommended.
Medication and diet cannot reliably dissolve or prevent gallstones. Removing only the stones is not enough, because new stones form in the gallbladder. The standard treatment is laparoscopic removal of the gallbladder.
Questions
Yes. Bile flows directly from the liver to the intestine. Most people notice no difference; a few have looser stools after fatty meals for some time.
Yes. Rapid weight loss increases the risk of gallstones, which is why they are checked for before and after bariatric surgery.
If you have had one attack, further attacks are likely, and waiting increases the risk of complications. We decide the timing together.
Next step
Send us your details and your ultrasound report, and I will contact you.