Cholecystitis (Inflammation of Gall Bladder): Cholecystitis is inflammation of the gall bladder caused by cholelithiasis, which happens when the gall stones block the cystic duct, or when the bile duct thickens and later gets infected by micro organisms. The condition sometimes, develops into acute acalculous cholecystitis, in the absence of the gall stones and sometimes, the gallbladder suffers from inflammation that causes chronic cholecystitis.
Chronic cholecystitis: It is caused when the patient has gall stones for some long time in the gall bladder and the condition may also include a kind of inflammation. The gall bladder may get thick and the patient may have problems like nausea and abdominal pain. If the problem persists the gall bladder may shrink and when the gallbladder suffers from excessive calcification - the condition is called porcelain gallbladder.
Symptoms of Chronic Cholecystitis
Pain in upper abdomen
Pain increases in abdomen after some hours
Pain of abdomen reaches shoulder blades and back
Vomiting and nausea
Pain starts on taking food rich in fat such as cheese, chocolate or pastry
Treatment: The problem is detected through ultrasonography, where the gall bladder appears shrunken and sometimes, cholescintigraphy is used, but it may not always show the exact picture of the problem.
Acute cholecystitis: The inflammation of gallbladders, in which, the patient suffers for pain for almost twelve hours and pain gets worse with coughing and movement. The stone of the gall bladder obstruct the bile flow and inflammatory enzymes are released.
Risk and Symptoms: Acute cholecystitis can be caused due to shock or prolonged fasting. It can also be caused by immune deficiency or some kind of critical illness such as burns or major surgery.
It has been found that the patient s suffering from acute cholecystitis may not always have gallstones, but they can have gallstones and to treat the problem the patient has to be admitted to the hospital. Initially, the patient is given antibiotics to control inflammation but if the situation is not controlled, surgery of gall bladder may be required and sometimes, the doctor has to remove the gall bladder. If the patient is not treated, it may cause perforation and pus in gallbladder.
Acute acalculous cholecystitis: It is the condition, in which, the patient does not have gall bladder stones, but has thick gallbladder wall, which is caused due to critical illness.
Diagnosis of Cholecystitis
1. Pain in abdomen cannot be linked to gallstones. Many other symptoms and tests should be conducted before concluding a problem in gallbladder.
2. The patient is examined physically and pain in abdomen can indicate the problem. The pain in abdomen should not be caused by other reasons and sometimes, ultrasound is done to diagnose acute cholecystitis.
3. Blood tests are also used to test people and blood shows high amount of alkaline enzymes and bilirubin, that is an orange yellow substance found in bile.
4. Test of white blood cell count can also help in diagnosis of acute cholecystitis.
5. The patient may suffer from jaundice and have yellowish eyes and skin tone.
Treatment of acute cholecystitis: Patient may be treated with cholecystectomy and it is most common, if the patient has high infection risk or other kind of medical complications.
