Infected Gallbladder vs Symptomatic Gallstones – A picture (or video) paints a thousand words

Gallstones are found in 20% of the population. This is a very common condition in the world. Some people would experience abdominal pain (biliary colic) from gallstones. This pain is usually located above the umbilicus (belly button) or just below the right rib cage.

• Perforated Gangrenous Cholecystitis

For patients who have pain from gallstones, I would recommend that they have the gallbladder removed.  Gallstones can cause cholecystitis (infection and inflammation of the gallbladder), pancreatitis and cholangitis (infection and blockage of the bile duct).  Gallbladder surgery is routinely done with the laparoscopic (keyhole) technique.

• Biliary Colic Gallbladder

I have operated on more then a thousand patients with symptoms or complications of gallstones.  In my experience, when the gallbladder is not infected (symptoms of pain only), the surgery is certainly a lot easier.  Operating on an infected gallbladder is more challenging and takes longer time.

The two videos in this post shows an infected and a non infected gallbladder. As the saying goes, “a picture paints a thousand words”.

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