Gallstones are essentially hardened deposits of digestive fluid that form in the gall bladder. Usually, these gallstones are the size of a sand grain and often cause no symptoms whatsoever. But at times, the deposits can accumulate to form a large stone in the gall bladder which can, in turn, block a duct and give rise to several symptoms, including increasing pain and discomfort in the area around your abdomen. It is vital that you consult your physician to help diagnose and treat gallstones at the earliest.
Diagnosis of gallstones
Your doctor may adopt one or all of the methods listed below to accurately determine if you have gallstones.
- Tests to create pictures of your gallbladder
Your doctor may ask you to take a few tests which include taking high-resolution images of your gall bladder. These images would show the doctor whether you have gallstones or if the cause of your sudden pain and discomfort is due to another underlying health condition. He may ask you to undergo an abdominal ultrasound and a computerized tomography (CT) scan to diagnose your current condition. - Tests to check your bile ducts
Your physician may also recommend tests where a special dye is used to check your bile ducts. Large gallstones block bile ducts and this can cause extreme pain and discomfort. He may also suggest getting tests done like hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Do note that gallstones can also be removed by the last test as well. - Blood tests
Your physician may also advice several blood tests to rule out other health conditions before confirming the diagnosis for gallstones.
Treatment for gallstones
Surgery
Gallstones can be easily treated. Your physician may prescribe gall bladder surgery to help remove the gallstones especially if you are of the right age. However, if your immune system is compromised for one reason or the other, then he may recommend a course of medications to help dissolve the gallstones. While surgery can help you get rid of the gallstones right away, it comes with its own set of risks as every surgery does and there’s the downtime involved, where you need to recover from the surgery.
Medication
You would be required to take medications for prolonged periods of time to help soften and dissolve those gallstones. This may take a while after which your gallstones should be dissolved. But you will need to continue the course of treatment until all the gallstones have been dissolved completely.
These are some of the methods to effectively treat gallstones. You cannot prevent any occurrence of the same, but if the gallstones do form, then you can take the above measures to deal effectively with them. It is important that you consult a physician at the earliest
