What are gallbladder polyps? Gallbladder polyps are also called “polyp-like lesions” and “gallbladder polyps” and include a variety of diseases. It is a “polyp-like” lesion that grows on the wall of the gallbladder and protrudes or bulges into the cavity of the gallbladder. Think of it as a stalactite growing out of the wall of a cave. There are two types of gallbladder polyps, one is the “good” non-tumor polyp, such as cholesterol crystals, inflammation of the tissue after the bulge, the wall of the gallbladder after the stimulation of polyps, etc. They are naughty “good kids”, they rarely develop into They rarely develop into malignant tumors and endanger life. The other kind of polyps are “bad” tumors, such as early gallbladder cancer and adenoma. These are malignant tumors or “bad elements” that can develop into malignant tumors, which can eventually become serious health risks and require prompt treatment. Why do you get gallbladder polyps? Gallbladder polyps have an international prevalence of 3-6%, with a higher prevalence reported in China, and are a common condition. Gallbladder polyps include a variety of specific diseases and the causes are complex. They are five times more common in men than in women and are most often seen in the 40s and 50s. If you have hyperlipidemia, especially hypercholesterolemia, are obese, have a fatty liver, and have elevated LDL density as well, you are at a much higher risk of getting cholesterol polyps. Other people to watch out for include hepatitis B patients, diabetics and patients with gallbladder stones. People who smoke and drink alcohol and have irregular diets also need to be aware of the occurrence of gallbladder polyps. Do gallbladder polyps need to be treated? Gallbladder polyps rarely have obvious clinical symptoms, and some people have atypical abdominal pain and bloating. Treatment of gallbladder polyps is mainly for those “bad” polyps. These early cancerous or potentially cancerous “bad molecules”, if “left alone”, will eventually develop into gallbladder cancer. On the one hand, the process of gallbladder cancer is very insidious, and there are no obvious symptoms, so it is generally difficult to detect in time. Often, when weight loss, upper abdominal distension and pain, yellow eyes, etc. occur, the polyps are already found to be in the advanced stage of gallbladder cancer and cannot be removed surgically. On the other hand, gallbladder cancer is poorly treated and insensitive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and surgery is the only radical treatment method. Once the opportunity of surgery is lost, the best treatment period is often missed. How do gallbladder polyps need to be treated? The main treatment for gallbladder polyps is surgical removal of the diseased gallbladder. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the current “gold standard” of treatment, with proven results and safety. The malignancy rate of gallbladder polyps is about 0.6% in the ultrasound follow-up of patients. The size of the gallbladder polyp is generally considered to be one of the most important factors in deciding whether to perform a cholecystectomy. The widely used criteria for surgical indication are polyps larger than 10 mm in diameter. This is because such polyps are several times more likely to become malignant. For lesions smaller than 10 mm other risk factors have to be taken into account, such as age older than 50 years, size growing year by year, and morphology of wide basal or non-tip polyps. Therefore, whether a gallbladder polyp is found to require surgical treatment, the patient needs to be seen in general surgery, hepatobiliary surgery or oncology surgery to get treatment advice from a specialist. For small and frequent cholesterol polyps of the gallbladder, oral “bile acid” drugs can be tried to treat them by dissolving cholesterol.