What symptoms do patients with gallstones experience?
Patients with gallstones often get severe abdominal pain ? in the right upper side – particularly after eating fatty food. If a gallstone blocks the common bile duct, jaundice (yellowing of the skin) can develop. Patients with gallstones may also suffer complications such as infection and inflammation of the gallbladder (cholecystitis) or of the pancreas (pancreatitis). Some people who have gallstones have no symptoms and these people are said to have so-called “silent” gallstones. How are gallstones diagnosed? Gallstones are usually diagnosed by a relatively simple test called ultrasonography. In this test a jelly is applied to the skin and a probe is moved over the abdominal wall to capture images of the internal organs. How are gallstones treated? Not all patients who have gallstones require surgery. In most instances those who do not have any symptoms (silent gallstones) may not require treatment. However, a decision not to operate should be taken only after consulting a specialist
