Can gallstones be crushed extracorporeally?

Gallstones, i.e., gallbladder stones, are generally not recommended to be treated with extracorporeal lithotripsy. Gallbladder stones may be caused by oversaturation of cholesterol in bile, abnormalities in the nucleation process of cholesterol, and abnormal gallbladder function. Symptoms such as biliary colic and indigestion may occur. Extracorporeal lithotripsy treatment mainly involves the use of shock waves outside the body to pulverize the stones in the kidney and ureter into powder form, and then allow the stone powder to be naturally excreted from the body with the urine, so as to achieve the purpose of treatment. If extracorporeal lithotripsy is performed, the stone powder may accumulate in the neck of the gallbladder or the gallbladder duct, leading to blockage of the gallbladder, which may cause cholecystitis, and extracorporeal lithotripsy may also lead to damage to the bile ducts or bile duct hemorrhage, so extracorporeal lithotripsy is not recommended for patients with gallbladder stones. Therefore, it is not recommended that patients with gallbladder stones undergo extracorporeal lithotripsy.