If you frequently experience abdominal pain without a history of enjoying greasy foods, you should consider the possibility of gallstones. Gallstones are one of the common diseases worldwide and mainly occur in people who consume foods high in cholesterol.

 

Many people think gallstones are simply stones. However, gallstones refer to the accumulation of components of bile (a digestive fluid produced by the liver), such as bile acids and cholesterol, in the gallbladder or bile ducts. Cholesterol is normally dissolved in bile, but when the amount of cholesterol in the body increases, it cannot be fully dissolved and clumps together to form gallstones. In 1997, an analysis of patients with gallbladder stones (gallstones formed inside the gallbladder) from 19 university hospitals nationwide showed that 58.1% of the stones were cholesterol gallstones.

 

Gallstones are classified into pigmented stones caused by liver diseases, parasites, or cholecystitis, and cholesterol stones caused by high cholesterol levels. The medical community currently estimates that most patients with gallstones have cholesterol stones.

If gallstones are only inside the gallbladder, there are no specific symptoms. However, if the cystic duct (the opening of the gallbladder) is blocked, pain occurs in the upper abdomen and nausea is felt. Bile produced by the liver is stored in the gallbladder and should exit through the cystic duct, but if this passage is blocked, the pressure inside the gallbladder increases.

 

Dr. Beon-gyoung, director of Damsoyu Hospital, said, "Many patients with gallstones visit the emergency room due to severe abdominal pain, but since the symptoms disappear quickly, they dismiss it as simple indigestion." He explained, "This is because the gallstone blocking the bile duct has moved back into the gallbladder. Even if the pain subsides, you should suspect gallstones and undergo an abdominal ultrasound." If left untreated, the gallstones can migrate to the common bile duct, causing jaundice and potentially developing into acute cholecystitis.

 

Patients with gallstones who have complications such as acute cholecystitis or acute pancreatitis must receive treatment. There are cases of gallstone patients who need to undergo gallbladder removal even without specific symptoms. This includes cases where the gallbladder wall is calcified, or the patient has a hematologic disorder, or the gallstones are large, or there are gallbladder polyps. In these cases, the gallbladder is removed as a preventive measure because there is a risk of developing gallbladder cancer.

 

Even after gallbladder removal surgery, there is no problem in digesting food. This is because bile is secreted from the liver. However, since there is no storage space for bile, it flows directly into the intestines, which may cause diarrhea for 2 to 4 weeks after surgery. After about a month, once the common bile duct begins to take over the role of the gallbladder, there is generally no need to worry.

 

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I usually don't like greasy foods.

There is abdominal pain without any reason.

 

Gallbladder also during this health check-up.

I think I should try it at least once~

 

Apart from the national health check-up,

It needs to be looked at in more detail.