Abdominal pain in greasy holiday food, suspected of having cholecystitis
Sep 15, 2024
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The gallbladder is an organ that collects and discharges bile that helps digest fat, and if the bile is not discharged properly, you will suffer from abdominal pain or indigestion. Patients with cholelithiasis without symptoms or cholecyst adenomyosis and decreased gallbladder discharge often visit the emergency room due to sudden right upper abdomen or epigastric pain during the holiday season when they eat a lot of fatty food.
Professor Kim Naru, a surgeon at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, said "You should pay more attention to digestive diseases because you eat fatty foods during Chuseok holidays. When you have pain or bloating in your upper stomach or solar plexus, you often think you have indigestion and take digestive medicine, but if symptoms persist or severe right upper abdominal pain occurs 1-2 hours after eating, you should visit a hospital for a diagnosis, especially because it is likely to be a gallbladder disease."
Gallbladder disease is a disease that includes cholelithiasis, cholecystitis, cholecyst adenomyosis, gallbladder polyps, and gallbladder cancer, and its prevalence is increasing due to changes in lifestyle such as Western eating habits, lack of exercise, or excessive diet. The biggest cause of gallbladder disease is gallstones, which are caused by crystallization of components such as cholesterol, bile pigment, and bile acid in the gallbladder.
If there is discomfort in the upper abdomen, pain in the right upper abdomen or solar plexus, fever, nausea, vomiting, and pain radiating toward the right shoulder or scapula, it is likely to be cholecystitis.
Professor Kim said "The most common cause of cholecystitis is gallstones. When gallstones block the gallbladder duct or biliary tract, pressure inside the gallbladder increases, and secondary bacterial infection occurs, it progresses to cholecystitis. In addition, even if it is not cholecystitis, if there is cholecystadenomyopathy in which the wall of the gallbladder thickens, it may be accompanied by a decrease in gallbladder contraction function. If indigestion or postprandial abdominal pain persists, gallbladder disease should be suspected", he explained.
If there is no specific finding among patients who visit the hospital due to repeated indigestion and frequent indigestion, even though the test was conducted due to abnormalities in the stomach or duodenum, it is necessary to perform an abdominal ultrasound to check that the gallbladder has no problems such as gallstones or cholecystitis.
If abdominal ultrasound confirms gallstones, cholecystitis, gallbladder polyps, what should I do?
Professor Kim said "In the case of gallbladder disease, if symptoms and imaging evidence are clearly identified, most of them perform cholecystectomy, and cholecystectomy is mainly performed by laparoscopic or robotic surgery, which is minimally invasive surgery, except for advanced gallbladder cancer."
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a surgery to check the structures in the abdominal cavity with a camera and remove the gallbladder by drilling a 1cm navel, 5mm below the solar plexus, and 5mm below the right rib. Most cases of acute cholecystitis with severe inflammation are performed by laparoscopic surgery, and if the inflammation is not very severe, single-hole robotic surgery can be performed to minimize surgical scars.
Professor Kim said, `If you have symptoms such as repeated indigestion and abdominal pain, it may be gallbladder disease, so don't leave it as it has eased, but visit a nearby medical institution for examination and diagnosis even after the Chuseok holiday.' `If cholecystectomy is necessary, laparoscopic or single-hole robotic cholecystectomy should be performed quickly and safely for treatment.'
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