Cholecystitis - Dubai General Surgery Clinic

Cholecystitis – A Serious Condition Affecting The Gall Bladder

• Cholecystitis is a condition related to cholelithiasis, and results from the inflammation of the gall bladder. The build up of bile inside the organ due to the blockade of the bile duct causes swelling, pain an infection, which lead to cholecystitis.
• The blocking is generally caused when the gallstone gets stuck in the bile duct, preventing the flow of bile from the gall bladder in a normal way.
• The condition is common amongst patients who have been diagnosed with gallstones but choose not to get the organ removed due to absence of any pain or symptoms.

Causes Of Cholecystitis

• As mentioned before, cholecystitis is caused due to the inflammation of the gall bladder which in turn can result from the bile getting trapped in the organ due to a gallstone getting stuck in the bile duct.
• However, apart from this major reason, there are other factors that have been identified as cholecystitis causes. These include an injury to the abdomen resulting in damage of the gall bladder, immune deficiency, prolonged fasting and even an infection of the bile.
• In addition, the presence of a tumor might also prevent the bile from flowing out of the gall baldder in the proper manner leading to its inflammation and development of cholecystitis.

Symptoms Of Cholecystitis

• Unlike the condition of gallstones, the ailment of cholecystitis is relatively easy to diagnose due to the presence of strong symptoms including high fever, pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen along with a high white blood cell count.
• Other common cholecystitis signs and symptoms include nausea and vomiting, little or no appetite, sweating, abdominal bloating and radiation of pain to the right shoulder or scapula.
• The intensity and number of symptoms might vary from one individual to another depending upon their overall medical condition, lifestyle habits and various other factors.

Read :

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Treatment of Cholecystitis

• The most common method of cholecystitis treatment is through the removal of the gall stone blocking the bile duct. In most cases, the procedure involves the removal of the gall bladder as a whole.
• If left untreated, the condition can result in the perforation of the gall bladder, tissue death and gangrene. Other common consequences include fibrosis, shrinking of the gallbladder and even secondary bacterial infections.
• All these resulting conditions can lead to serious health conditions, which can even put the very life of the patients at risk.

Important Facts About The Surgery

• Patients who need to undertake cholecystitis surgery will be hospitalized well in advance before the procedure is scheduled.
• They will not be allowed to consume any solid or liquid foods for some time but will rather be fed intravenously on a liquid diet.
• Depending on the exact condition of the patient, the doctors might recommend an open procedure or a laparoscopic one.
• The later is a preferred choice to minimize the risks associated with an invasive treatment. It also minimizes the level of pain and the amount of scarring that the patients have to suffer from during an open procedure.
• Most importantly, the laparoscopic procedure minimizes the recovery time for the patients, enabling them to get back to their normal life in a relatively shorter period of time.