Acute Cholecystitis: Gallbladder Inflammation, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Acute cholecystitis is sudden inflammation of the gallbladder, most often caused when a gallstone blocks the cystic duct. It can become serious and requires medical assessment rather than home treatment or supplements.
Common symptoms
- Persistent pain in the upper-right abdomen, sometimes spreading to the right shoulder or back
- Tenderness over the gallbladder area
- Fever
- Nausea or vomiting
- Sometimes jaundice if bile ducts are also obstructed
Severe or persistent upper-abdominal pain, fever, jaundice or repeated vomiting should be assessed promptly.
What causes it?
Gallstones cause most cases. Less commonly, acute cholecystitis can develop without stones, particularly in severely ill patients, or from other obstruction or inflammation involving the biliary system.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis combines symptoms and examination with blood tests and imaging. Ultrasound is commonly the first imaging test because it can detect gallstones and signs of gallbladder inflammation. Additional imaging or a HIDA scan may be used when the diagnosis remains uncertain.
Treatment
Hospital treatment may include fluids, pain control, antibiotics when infection is suspected or confirmed, and temporary adjustment of food intake according to the clinical situation.
For most people with gallstone-related acute cholecystitis who are fit for surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy—removal of the gallbladder—is definitive treatment. People who are too unwell for immediate surgery may require drainage of the gallbladder or another individualized strategy.
Gallstones in the common bile duct
If stones are blocking the common bile duct, an endoscopic procedure such as ERCP may be needed to remove them.
Complications
Untreated or severe cholecystitis can lead to infection, gangrene, perforation or abscess formation. These are medical emergencies.
Can supplements dissolve gallstones?
Commercial “gallbladder cleanses” and supplements should not be presented as substitutes for diagnosis or treatment. Nonsurgical medicines for cholesterol stones are used only in selected situations and can take months or years.
Editorial sources
This article provides general education and does not replace urgent medical, surgical or gastroenterology care.
