Symptoms of gallbladder polyps

  Gallbladder polyps are lesions that protrude or bulge into the lumen of the gallbladder and are mostly benign, including tumor polyps and non-tumor polyps, and are collectively referred to as “gallbladder polyps” because of the difficulty in diagnosing the nature of gallbladder polyps before surgery.  In the literature, gallbladder adenomas and gallbladder polyps are referred to as benign gallbladder tumors in general. Most of the cases are asymptomatic and are detected by ultrasonography during physical examination. In a few patients, there is pain in the right upper abdomen, nausea and vomiting, and loss of appetite; in rare patients, it can cause obstructive jaundice, cholecystitis without stones, biliary bleeding, and induced pancreatitis. If the polyps in the gallbladder neck are close to the cystic duct causing obstruction, an enlarged gallbladder with pressure pain can be found. Ultrasound is the most practical and effective examination method, which can show the size, morphology, internal structure, and relationship with the gallbladder wall, and can identify the presence of stones. However, it is difficult to distinguish tumorigenic or non-tumorigenic polyps, benign or malignant lesions. A small number of gallbladder polyps can become cancerous and may be early gallbladder cancer, which should be taken seriously clinically.  For patients with polyps less than 1 cm and no symptoms, surgery should not be rushed, and ultrasound review should be done every 6 months to 1 year according to the specific situation. However, for patients with obvious symptoms and fast-growing polyps, surgery should be performed after investigating psychological factors, gastroduodenal and other biliary tract diseases.