Dangers of Gallbladder Stones

  Gallbladder stones are dangerous in many ways. Gallbladder stones are mainly seen in adults and are common in women, especially in menstruating mothers and those taking birth control pills. The symptoms of gallbladder stones depend on the size and location of the stones, as well as the presence of obstruction and inflammation. About 50% of patients with gallbladder stones are asymptomatic for life. Gallbladder stones are mainly cholesterol stones or a mixture of cholesterol-based stones, as large as eggs or as small as silt, which can fill the entire gallbladder. These gallbladder stones, large and small, are constantly destroying human health, and all patients must be aware of the existence of gallbladder stones and the dangers in order to fundamentally minimize the harm. The general symptoms of gallbladder stones are: upper abdominal discomfort, often misdiagnosed as gastric disease, hepatitis, coronary heart disease; colic: sudden onset of severe pain; acute cholecystitis. Specific gallbladder stone hazards from the patient’s point of view are detailed as follows: 1. Gallbladder stones form gallbladder cancer is the biggest hazard of gallbladder stones About 0.5%-1% of gallbladder stones are complicated by gallbladder cancer. This shows that gallbladder cancer and gallstones are directly connected. Gallbladder cancer is characterized by a high rate of misdiagnosis, up to 79.5%. Because patients are often found to be suffering from gallbladder cancer only when they undergo gallstone surgery, which is mostly at an advanced stage with very poor curative effect, and most patients die within one year.  Gallbladder stones can cause abdominal pain and diet decline, even paroxysmal colic, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal distension, etc. Patients can eat significantly or even cannot eat.  The normal size of gallbladder is not more than 9cm in length and 2-3cm in width, the gallbladder moves with breathing and can be large and small, sometimes hidden. When the gallbladder atrophies, it has no ability to contract and concentrate, and internal treatment generally cannot eliminate it. It can lead to inflammation and pain, and some patients can also lead to acute purulent cholangitis, and the stones can also cause acute obstructive jaundice, pancreatitis and other real symptoms after entering the common bile duct.  4, gallbladder stones can cause biliary colic, affecting the normal working life of patients, which is the most common harm of gallbladder stones.  During the interval of gallbladder stones without symptoms, the stones float in the gallbladder, in this case, the patient does not feel anything. After an oil meal or at night, gallbladder stones tend to get stuck in the neck of the gallbladder or in the gallbladder duct, leading to stone impaction, and the bile in the gallbladder cannot flow out, causing the pressure in the gallbladder to rise and the gallbladder to expand, while the gallbladder has to contract more in order to discharge the bile. The gallbladder swells and contracts rapidly within a short period of time, resulting in severe colic pain. This colic is often persistent, paroxysmal, and will be constantly aggravated, and in serious cases, shock or even life-threatening.  Gallstones not only lead to cholecystitis, but also lead to some small stones falling into the common bile duct and discharging into the duodenum, and all small stones falling into the common bile duct can damage the hepatopancreatic sphincter at the end of the common bile duct, which will cause stenosis at the end of the common bile duct repeatedly, secondary to common bile duct stones and biliary pancreatitis. Some large stones can become embedded and compress the gallbladder and its adjacent organs to form biliary fistula, such as cholecystoduodenal fistula, gallbladder transverse colon fistula and cholecystocholedochal fistula.