Gallstones

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. Gallstone attacks usually happen after you eat. Signs of a gallstone attack may include nausea, vomiting, or pain in the abdomen, back, or just under the right arm.

Gallstones are most common among older adults, women, overweight people, Native Americans and Mexican Americans.

Gallstones are often found during imaging tests for other health conditions. If you do not have symptoms, you usually do not need treatment. The most common treatment is removal of the gallbladder. Fortunately, you can live without a gallbladder. Bile has other ways to reach your small intestine.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Encyclopedia

• Abdominal exploration Medical Encyclopedia
• Abdominal MRI scan Medical Encyclopedia
• Abdominal ultrasound Medical Encyclopedia
• Fecal fat Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – open – discharge Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – Series — Normal anatomy Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallstones – discharge Medical Encyclopedia

Diagnosis and Tests

• Abdominal exploration – series — Normal anatomy Medical Encyclopedia
• Abdominal Ultrasound Radiological Society of North America
• HIDA Scan Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Understanding EUS (Endoscopic Ultrasonography) American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Specifics

• Biliary Tract Disorders, Gallbladder Disorders, and Gallstone Pancreatitis American College of Gastroenterology
• Chronic Diarrhea: A Concern after Gallbladder Removal? Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Dieting and Gallstones National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Related Issues

• Cholecystitis Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Patient Handouts

• Choledocholithiasis Medical Encyclopedia
• ERCP Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – laparoscopic Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – laparoscopic – discharge Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallbladder removal – open Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallstones Medical Encyclopedia
• Gallstones National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Choledocholithiasis National Institutes of Health
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Cholelithiasis National Institutes of Health

Treatments and Therapies

• Endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography (ERCP) – series — Normal anatomy Medical Encyclopedia
• ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• Gallbladder Cleanse: A “Natural” Remedy for Gallstones? Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Start Here

• Gallstones Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• Gallstones National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Women

• Gallstones in Women American College of Gastroenterology

Find an Expert

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

Journal Articles

• Gallstones