Diagnosis
Signs & Symptoms
In majority i.e. 90% of the cases gallstones remain asymptomatic for life and cause no complications at all. In just 2% of the cases gallstones can lead to developing symptoms during first 10years of the disease and after these 10 years the chances for developing symptoms gradually decrease. Studies have shown that younger stones are more likely to cause symptoms than the old stones, thus developing symptoms during first 8 years of the disease is high, which starts to decline afterwards. Radioisotope dating studies have shown that at the time of excision, the average age of a gallstone is 11years, which demonstrates that they can remain silent for years. The most common symptoms are:
Biliary Colic: Patient develops pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen which might go to the back and further up to the shoulder. The pain is very severe in intensity and could last for a few minutes to hours (if longer then it could be acute cholecystitis). It is not relieved by passing wind or stool but only by taking analgesics. The pain is usually triggered by the intake of fatty meals and can occur at any time but usually in the night after having a large, fatty dinner. It could occur as a solitary attack or several attacks may follow the initial attack with a gap of weeks or months between them.
It is usually followed by nausea and vomiting.
Patient can also develop flatulent dyspepsia, a feeling of fullness with belching and heartburn can occur after taking a meal.
The most common signs which are present in a patient are:
After checking for all the signs and symptoms a doctor usually orders some tests to confirm his diagnosis.
Biliary Colic: Patient develops pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen which might go to the back and further up to the shoulder. The pain is very severe in intensity and could last for a few minutes to hours (if longer then it could be acute cholecystitis). It is not relieved by passing wind or stool but only by taking analgesics. The pain is usually triggered by the intake of fatty meals and can occur at any time but usually in the night after having a large, fatty dinner. It could occur as a solitary attack or several attacks may follow the initial attack with a gap of weeks or months between them.
It is usually followed by nausea and vomiting.
Patient can also develop flatulent dyspepsia, a feeling of fullness with belching and heartburn can occur after taking a meal.
The most common signs which are present in a patient are:
- Shallow breathing
- Fever
- Tenderness in the right upper abdomen
- Tachycardia (rapid heartbeat)
- Jaundice
- Positive Murphy’s Sign: The doctor will place his hand or thumb on the abdomen, roughly at the position where the gallbladder lies and will ask the patient to take a deep breath. If the patient winces suddenly with pain then the sign is positive, which suggests that the gallbladder is inflamed.
After checking for all the signs and symptoms a doctor usually orders some tests to confirm his diagnosis.