What Can Happen If Serious Gallbladder Disease Is Left Untreated?
Complications of gallstones can include:
Acute cholecystitis
A gallstone can block the outlet of the gallbladder, producing painful inflammation and sometimes infection.
Pancreatitis
A stone can obstruct the area where bile and pancreatic ducts drain, causing inflammation of the pancreas.
Gallstone pancreatitis can be severe.
Bile duct obstruction
A stone blocking the common bile duct may cause jaundice and liver-related blood-test abnormalities.
An infected blocked bile duct can cause fever, abdominal pain, jaundice, and potentially life-threatening infection.
These are major reasons doctors may recommend surgery rather than simply managing symptoms indefinitely.
Can Gallstones Be Removed Without Removing the Gallbladder?
In selected situations, doctors can remove stones from the common bile duct using a procedure called ERCP.
However, this does not necessarily solve the underlying problem when stones continue forming inside the gallbladder.
Medications capable of dissolving certain cholesterol stones exist, but they work only in selected patients, may require months or years, and stones may return afterward.
