To determine whether cholestasis is present, it is usually necessary to make a joint judgment through a number of examinations, such as physical examination, liver function test, serum bile acid measurement, abdominal ultrasonography and so on.
1. Physical examination: patients with cholestasis usually have jaundice, i.e., yellowish skin color, and some patients can see eyelid xanthomas.
2. Liver function tests: patients usually have a marked increase in serum bilirubin and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. If only simple cholestasis, serum aminotransferase will be mildly elevated. If the serum aminotransferase is significantly elevated, it suggests that the patient’s hepatocytes are necrotic.
3. Measurement of serum bile acid: when cholestasis occurs, fasting serum bile acid will be more than 10 μmol/L, or even more than ten times the normal value.
4. Abdominal ultrasonography: abdominal ultrasonography can be used to identify intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholestasis.
To summarize, the presence of cholestasis needs to be evaluated comprehensively, and it is recommended to go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment.