Symptoms of chronic cholecystitis

  Chronic cholecystitis is a disease of abnormal gallbladder function due to recurrent attacks of acute and subacute cholecystitis that are not treated thoroughly, or due to long-standing gallbladder stones. Patients often experience vague pain in the right upper abdomen, accompanied by indigestion such as epigastric fullness and belching.  Patients with chronic cholecystitis do not have specific signs and symptoms when the disease is not attacked. They may have indigestion symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, acid reflux, abdominal distension, and burning sensation in the stomach in daily life, and they may be aggravated after eating some fatty foods. When the acute attack of cholecystitis occurs, there may be severe upper abdominal pain. As the disease progresses, it may lead to jaundice when the bile ducts are complicating inflammation or when the lymph nodes in the liver gate are enlarged. This is when the doctor will find a positive Murphy’s sign. Clinical examination combined with routine blood and biochemical tests may show an increase in total white blood cell and neutrophil count, as well as an increase in total serum bilirubin and serum transaminases.  In summary, when patients present with the above chronic cholecystitis manifestations, they should be treated symptomatically in a timely manner and can often take oral cholagogic and anti-inflammatory drugs as well as litholytic drugs. Since the treatment period is long, it needs to be taken continuously to prevent recurrence.