Gallbladder Diseases

Summary

Your gallbladder is a pear-shaped organ under your liver. It stores bile, a fluid made by your liver to digest fat. As your stomach and intestines digest food, your gallbladder releases bile through a tube called the common bile duct. The duct connects your gallbladder and liver to your small intestine.

Your gallbladder is most likely to give you trouble if something blocks the flow of bile through the bile ducts. That is usually a gallstone. Gallstones form when substances in bile harden. Rarely, you can also get cancer in your gallbladder.

Many gallbladder problems get better with removal of the gallbladder. Fortunately, you can live without a gallbladder. Bile has other ways of reaching your small intestine.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Encyclopedia

• Abdominal MRI scan Medical Encyclopedia
• Abdominal ultrasound Medical Encyclopedia
• Diagnostic laparoscopy Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder radionuclide scan Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – open – discharge Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – Series — Normal anatomy Medical Encyclopedia

Diagnosis and Tests

• Abdominal Ultrasound Radiological Society of North America
• ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• Hepatobiliary Nuclear Medicine Radiological Society of North America
• Laparoscopy National Library of Medicine
• Understanding EUS (Endoscopic Ultrasonography) American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Patient Handouts

• Acute cholecystitis Medical Encyclopedia
• Bilirubin – urine Medical Encyclopedia
• Chronic cholecystitis Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – laparoscopic Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – laparoscopic – discharge Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – open Medical Encyclopedia

Start Here

• Biliary Tract Disorders, Gallbladder Disorders, and Gallstone Pancreatitis American College of Gastroenterology
• Overview of Gallbladder and Bile Duct Disorders Merck & Co., Inc.

Specifics

• Cholecystitis Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Gallbladder Polyps: Can They Be Cancerous? Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Cholecystectomy National Institutes of Health
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Gallbladder Diseases National Institutes of Health

Living With

• Diet after Gallbladder Removal Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Reference Desk

• Gallbladder and Biliary Tract Merck & Co., Inc.

Treatments and Therapies

• Gallbladder Removal: Laparoscopic Method American Academy of Family Physicians
• Understanding ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Find an Expert

• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Journal Articles

• Gallbladder Diseases

Related Issues

• Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction Cleveland Clinic Foundation