Chronic Cholecystitis: Don't Ignore

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by resident Doctor Le Thanh Tuan - Department of General Surgery - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.
Chronic cholecystitis is a condition caused by multiple episodes of acute cholecystitis, which reduces the ability of the gallbladder to contract, atrophy, and at the same time, the function of the gallbladder to concentrate and store bile is gradually lost, reducing the ability to empty the gallbladder. secrete bile into the gastrointestinal tract.

1. What is the gallbladder?

The gallbladder is an organ located under the liver, located in the gallbladder box. The main function of the gallbladder is to store and concentrate bile, secrete bile into the digestive tract to help digest food, especially fatty foods.
When the gallbladder is infected, it will cause cholecystitis, this disease can happen suddenly and recur many times (chronic cholecystitis), causing discomfort and direct impact on the patient. to life.
When suffering from cholecystitis, the patient often has dyspepsia, abdominal distention, pain, fever, weight loss, slow digestion, yellow eyes, jaundice... If the disease is not treated promptly, it will lead to many complications. dangerous disease.

2. What are the causes of cholecystitis?

According to statistics, up to 90-95% of cholecystitis is caused by stones in the gallbladder. The remaining 5-10% of causes are not due to stones.
2.1 Non-stone causes Usually due to biliary tract infections caused by viruses, bacteria or other diseases of the biliary tract, especially diseases of the pancreas about the bile ducts that cause narrowing of the bile ducts, obstructing the bile ducts, causing bile duct obstruction. cholecystitis should be.
2.2 Causes of stones Because cholesterol in the blood is deposited and causes stones in the gallbladder. The disease is caused by worms that reach the gallbladder and die in the gallbladder, causing stones. Due to trauma, trauma to the right lower quadrant causes damage to the gallbladder.

3. Symptoms of chronic cholecystitis

Symptoms of recurrent cholecystitis vary according to different stages
In the early stages, the patient often presents with abdominal pain, causing pain in the right lower quadrant, pain when pressed, pain spreading to the back and back. may be on the right shoulder, the patient may experience nausea and vomiting. After vomiting, the patient does not have any pain and may have more pain
Stage 2 At this point the pain will be more obvious, the patient can point to the exact location of the pain and may be accompanied by a fever , there is vomiting. At this stage, the patient has to go to the hospital because the pain is very severe
At stage 3 Maybe for some reason the stone falls back into the gallbladder lumen, the obstruction disappears, the patient will reduce pain gradually, symptoms such as fever, pain will gradually lessen
In stage 4 It is possible from stage 2 to stage 4 always, the gallbladder becomes more and more enlarged and loses its function and blood supply causes Gallbladder necrosis or gallbladder perforation causes biliary peritonitis.

4. How dangerous are chronic cholecystitis complications?

Cirrhosis: Due to chronic and recurrent cholestasis and inflammation. Liver function gradually decreased and eventually progressed to cirrhosis due to cholestasis. Gallbladder fluid retention: Found in gallbladder neck stones or chronic cholecystitis causing fluid secretion. Oddi fibromyalgia: Due to the ampulla of Vater, long-term inflammation of Oddi muscle causes fibrosis and aggravates biliary stricture. Cholecystitis leading to peritoneal biliary infiltration can cause generalized peritonitis and septic shock. Chronic cholecystitis can cause serious complications for the patient if not treated properly and promptly. The earlier the disease is detected, the more effective the treatment is.
Currently, Vinmec International General Hospital has Hepatobiliary Screening packages, which help detect Hepatitis Virus at an early stage even when there are no symptoms. In addition, the comprehensive hepatobiliary screening package helps customers:
Evaluate the liver's ability to work through liver enzyme tests; Evaluation of bile function; vascular nutrition; Early screening for liver cancer; Perform tests such as: Total blood cell analysis, blood clotting ability, screening for hepatitis B, C. Assess hepatobiliary status through ultrasound images and diseases that are at risk of affecting liver disease. / make liver disease worse. In-depth analysis of parameters to evaluate hepatobiliary function through laboratory and subclinical tests; the risk of affecting the liver and early screening for hepatobiliary cancer. Dr. Le Thanh Tuan has experience in examination, treatment and surgery of abdominal pathologies (both open surgery and laparoscopic surgery). In particular, the doctor has strengths in pediatric surgery to treat diseases such as: intussusception, appendicitis, inguinal hernia, postpartum malformations (fetal peritonitis, megacolon, no anus).

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