Gallstones

What are gallstones?

Gallstones are hard deposits that develop in the gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located in the right upper part of the abdomen below the right rib cage. Gallstones may be small granules of sand/rice or as big as a marble or golf ball. Gallstones can cause sudden pain and this is termed gallbladder attack or biliary colic.

Why do you develop gallstones?

Gallstones develop because of imbalance in the constituents that make up bile. The three constituents include bilirubin, cholesterol or bile salts. Cholesterol stones are usually yellow-green in colour consisting of primarily crystalized cholesterol. Pigment stones are dark and made up of bilirubin.

Am I at risk of developing gallstones?

There are some factors that put you at increased risk of developing gallstones. These factors include:

• Female gender

• Age above 40 years

• Overweight or obese

• Consumption of the birth control pills

• Pregnancy

• Diabetes

• Rapid weight loss.

Rapid weight loss induced gallstone disease is increasingly common now especially in patients who lose weight from dieting or have undergone obesity surgery.

What are the symptoms of gallstones?

Gallstones cause constant cramping pain that is sharp or dull, and occurs on the right side of the abdomen under the ribs or in the middle upper abdomen lasting for at least 30 minutes. When a gallstone lodges in the neck of the gallbladder, increased pressure within the gallbladder triggers an inflammatory and infective process known as cholecystitis. Further complications of gallstone disease include jaundice due to passage of stone into the bile ducts and pancreatitis.

How do you treat gallstones?

A/Prof Terence Chua performs keyhole gallbladder surgery known as laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In situations where the stones have migrated out of the gallbladder into the bile ducts, Terence Chua is trained to perform advanced surgical techniques to retrieve the stones by common bile duct exploration.