What is Gallbladder & Its Function
It is a pear type structure located on the undersurface of right lobe liver inferiorly, that’s why pain of gallbladder disease is located on right upper abdomen; Liver produces bile and part of it get stored in the Gallbladder; function of bile is fat digestion; in the absence of gallbladder, bile produced by the liver trickle in continuous fashion and help in fat digestion that’s why post-operatively after removal of it our body gets adapted and after 4-6 months there is no much difference in fat digestion process.
Gallstones
Gallstones formation is common. What causes gallstones, is difficult to define. There are various theories about Gallbladder stone reason or there formation but there is no preventive method. There is no special diet for gallstones prevention
Most common gallstones symptom include right upper abdomen pain. Pain is mild to moderate in intensity and associated with vomitting. Stone impacted at neck can cause distended gallbladder or mucocele. Infection in mucocele cause pyocele or pus formation . These patients are usually diabetic and sick and require urgent medical treatment. 20-30% can have dyspeptic symptoms
Gallstones
There is no role of medicine or Ayurveda in treatment of gallstones.The stone specialist or best doctor are the laparoscopic surgeon as the recommended gallbladder stones treatment is gallbladder removal. The operation or surgery for gallbladder stone removal is called as Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy, in which whole of the gallbladder is removed Laparoscopy or by minimally invasive approach; It is a day care surgery in which patient is operated in the morning and can be discharged in the evening and from next day onward patient can do normal day to day activities
Because of complications of Gallstones such as Jaundice/ Cholangitis/Pancreatitis/Cancer even in asymptomatic patients, Surgery is preferred
The gallbladder removal side effects are minimal. Initially for a period of 2-3 months patient is advised to avoid excess fat in the diet
There are many factors which decide the cost of surgery. Other than hospital it also depends on patient general condition and room category. In metro cities like Delhi, Noida & Ghaziabad cost is more compared to other two tier cities. The gallbladder removal surgery or stone operation cost varies from INR 40,000 t0 90,000
Cancer Gallbladder
Gallbladder Cancer is common in North India and patient most commonly present with right upper abdomen pain, other symptoms can be loss of appetite/weight loss/jaundice/vomiting; Vomiting and Jaundice occur when the tumor spread locally and involve duodenum or pylorus and biliary system respectively
USG abdomen is the first modality of investigation whenever patient present with pain abdomen; USG in these patients show irregular GB wall thickening/GB mass; CECT abdomen is done in suspected Gallbladder Cancer on USG, as CT gives more idea about the mass/thickening, local and distant spread; FNAC is not done as it may cause seedling of tumor cells along the needle tract, MRCP is done when patient present with jaundice; Upper GI Endoscopy is done in suspected duodenal/pylorus involvement
Locally advanced tumors can involve duodenum/pylorus/hepatic flexure/Biliary system; In these cases tumor is removed en-bloc with involved organs; when the tumor involve biliary system and patient has jaundice and a major liver resection is planned pre-operative biliary drainage is done to lower down the bilirubin level before surgery