What are gallbladder polyps?

  Gallbladder polyps are usually mild or even asymptomatic. A few patients have epigastric discomfort, which may be accompanied by abdominal pain in the right upper abdomen or right quarter rib area, and may be accompanied by radiation to the right shoulder and back. When the polyp is located in the neck of gallbladder, biliary colic may occur, and when combined with stones, biliary colic attacks and acute and chronic inflammatory attacks may occur. Most of the gallbladder polyps are found only in the occasional B-ultrasound examination, and about 5% of people are examined for gallbladder polyps in the physical examination organized by the unit. In recent years, the detection rate of gallbladder polyps has increased and has become a common condition. The reasons for this are, on the one hand, the increase in the popularity of medical checkups and, on the other hand, the change in the dietary structure and dietary patterns of Chinese people and the unknown factors related to the living environment, including high cholesterol diet, long-term alcoholism, excessive consumption of stimulating diets, disorders of dietary patterns, etc. It is also pointed out that the widespread use of pesticides and fertilizers, the proliferation of food additives, ionizing radiation, etc. are related to the formation of gallbladder polyps.  Gallbladder polyps is a general term, there are actually several clinical classifications: First: cholesterol polyps: about 50%, also known as pseudopolyps. The current theory is that these polyps are not cancerous. It is mulberry-shaped, brittle and fragile, with a thin tip like a cotton thread, which is easily dislodged, mostly within 10 mm, mainly multiple, and mostly located in the body of the gallbladder. Most patients with cholesterol polyps are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and good gallbladder function. For patients with cholesterol polyps it is recommended: no alcohol abuse, regular diet, breakfast, low cholesterol diet. Excessive cholesterol intake (egg yolk, fatty meat, seafood, scaly fish, animal offal, etc.) can aggravate the metabolism of the liver and gallbladder causing excess cholesterol to crystallize, accumulate and precipitate in the gallbladder wall, thus forming cholesterol polyps. If these polyps are smaller than 0.5 cm and the number is small, try taking ursodeoxycholic acid. cholesterol polyps below 1 cm can be reviewed by ultrasound every 3-6 months to observe the changes in size, shape and number. If such patients have a desire to preserve the gallbladder and are under 50 years of age and do not meet the criteria for prophylactic gallbladder removal, laparoscopic choledochoscopy combined with biliary polyp removal biopsy can be tried for these patients, and depending on the pathological nature of the polyps, the decision of gallbladder preservation or removal can be made. If there are obvious symptoms or short-term enlargement or morphological changes, cholecystectomy will be performed.  The second type: benign non-cholesterol polyps: about 40%, also known as true polyps. They mainly refer to: adenoma, adenomyoma, inflammatory polyp and adenomatous hyperplasia of gallbladder, among which adenoma is precancerous and the cancer rate is about 30%, adenomyosis and adenomatous hyperplasia also have cancer risk. Such patients are recommended for cholecystectomy surgery, and bile preservation and drug treatment are not recommended.  The third type: polypoid early gallbladder adenocarcinoma: about 10%. At present, for polypoid early gallbladder cancer mixed with gallbladder polyps, we mainly rely on ultrasound to identify them, and if necessary, we can do a thin layer enhanced CT or MRI dynamic enhancement scan. Ultrasound features of cancerous polyps are: about 80% are larger than 10 mm and solitary; about 70% are located in the neck of gallbladder; about half are accompanied by gallbladder stones. Once such a lesion is suspected, it should be treated surgically as soon as possible.  In short: it is generally accepted that gallbladder polyps less than 1 cm in diameter and multiple (multiple are mostly cholesterol crystals) can be left untreated. Short-term fast-growing polyps; solitary or broad-based polyps larger than 1 cm, where there is concern for cancer or where ultrasound, CT and MRI do not exclude cancer, are usually recommended for surgery.