[MERGED] Cholelithiasis ( Gallbladder Stones )

[chronocross]

i need help, is there any other treatment aside from surgery na pupwede sa gallstone? ayoko pa kasi mawalan ng parte ng katawan. ano ba importance ng gallbladder? kapag nawala ba ito ano pwedeng mangyari at disadvantages? my alternative medicine ba para dito? makakatulong ba ang paginom ng 'buko juice' katulad ng sinasabi nila?

(post edited) please avoid using TextSpeak, please spellout the words

[IXG888]

(post edited)..yata lang ah nabasa ko lang.. try mo mag consult nang (post edited)..

- Sorry dude, I need to follow Dr. layer's advice.

[smilewarrior]

Please wait for the reply of the physicians. These might help:

(From the National Library of Medicine/ NLM)

Treatment

Modern advances in surgery have revolutionized the treatment of gallstones. In general, surgery is used only if you have symptoms.

In the past, open cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) was the usual procedure for uncomplicated cases. This operation required a medium-to-large incision just below the right lower rib in order to get to the gallbladder. After this operation, a patient typically spent 3 - 5 days in the hospital recovering.

However, a minimally-invasive technique called laparoscopic cholecystectomy was introduced in the 1980s, which uses small incisions and camera guidance to remove the gallbladder.

Currently, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the gold standard for treating gallstones that cause symptoms and is one of the most common operations performed in hospitals today. Using this approach, a patient may have the gallbladder removed in the morning and be discharged from the hospital on the same evening or the next morning.

In addition, gallstones blocking the common bile duct may be seen and removed during the laparoscopic procedure. Because this surgical treatment method has a complication rate of less than 1%, it is preferred to using medication to treat gallstones.

MEDICATION

In people with a functioning gallbladder, bile salts taken by mouth may dissolve gallstones. However, the process may take 2 years or longer, and stones may return after the therapy is ended.

Medical dissolution, using both high-dose and low-dose chenodeoxycholic acids (CDCA, chenodiol) was an approach investigated in the early 1980s. However, it was successful in only 14% of cases and required a long period of administration and a lifetime of maintenance therapy.

Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA, ursodiol) is successful in only 40% of cases. Both CDCA and UDCA therapies are useful only for gallstones formed from cholesterol.

Other chemical methods include contact dissolution, in which a catheter is passed through the abdominal wall and into the gallbladder. Methyl tert-butyl ether, a volatile chemical, is then instilled. This chemical rapidly dissolves cholesterol stones, but potential toxicity, stone recurrence, and other complications limit its usefulness.

the gallbladder only serves to store bile manufactured by the liver, and even if it is removed, the liver will still continue making bile, so the patient will resume normal lifestyle.

Sadly the only DEFINITIVE treatment of gallbladder stones (cholelithiasis) and subsequent pain and infection from a stone (cholecystitis) is surgery.

Depending on diferent considerations, a surgeon may opt to do other diagnostic examinations prior to any actual surgery, but keep in mind all diagnostics and procedures are done with surgery in the near future in mind. Quite often the pain may subside, and there is the tendency for the patient to think surgery is unnecessary, but this opens the door for recurrence of the pain and the development of more serious complications later on: Serious infection that can spread to the bloodstream (sepsis) and/or rupture of the gallbladder

What are your cousins concerns? Is he hesitant to go under the surgery because of actual fear of the procedure or because of monetary concerns? He can discuss these with his surgeon and he can even ask for a rough estimate of how much everything will cost (especially if there is little or no medical insurance). If its an uncomplicated case, the surgeon usually presents 2 surgical options, a regular gall bladder removal (cholecystectomy) with a small opening made just below the the border of his/her right rib or a camera-guided (laparoscopic) procedure with several smaller (and less scarring) incisions made near the belly button.

Good luck, and never hesitate to ask you doctors more questions if there are some things you dont feel youve fully understood.

[IXG888]

wow smile doctor.. you're the best mod in pex... no subjective opinions just pure information.. keep up the good work.

[chronocross]

wow thanks for the info... there's no other choice but to undergo a surgery..

[layer]

ciprofloxacin..yata lang ah nabasa ko lang.. try mo mag consult nang urologist..

oops.. edit please.

basically yun na yun. definitive management for symptomatic gallstones is surgery. no, buko juice won't help, and as far as i know there are no alternative medicines for gallstones. if there's no pain, the doctor may opt to observe. consult your local friendly hepatobiliary surgeon.

[smilewarrior]

^Okay doc, it's done .

[smilewarrior]

wow smile doctor.. you're the best mod in pex... no subjective opinions just pure information.. keep up the good work.

Thank you. You're kind words are appreciated.

From experience though, I can honestly tell you that you won't always like me. There will come a time when I'll have to edit your post in this forum ( which unfortunately I just did, sorry).

As one of the moderators of "What's Up Doc", I'm supposed to make sure that the medical content of this forum is somehow accurate and "safe for consumption".

I need to respect the input given to me by physicians, as in the grander scheme of things, the safety of all the readers of this forum is what matters the most.

For me, it's not about doing what is popular. I need to do what is right.

[zen_virgil]

(post edited)..yata lang ah nabasa ko lang.. try mo mag consult nang urologist..

- Sorry dude, I need to follow Dr. layer's advice.

oh by the way, you don't need a urologist for a cholecystectomy procedure. you must have mistaken it for a nephrolith.

[smilewarrior]

^Post has been edited .

[null_phreaker]

I need to do lap chole soon due to a 1.4 cm gall bladder stone, and I have medical support from the company and I can be covered for as much as 100k (plus take another 120k from my dependents for a total of 200k+). I prefer to have it done in Medical City in Ortigas/Pasig as it's the one hospital that doesnt give me shplikes, so would 200k enough to cover the expenses for the procedure + anesthesiologist + room charges + everything else? tia

[marbles]

I need to do lap chole soon due to a 1.4 cm gall bladder stone, and I have medical support from the company and I can be covered for as much as 100k (plus take another 120k from my dependents for a total of 200k+). I prefer to have it done in Medical City in Ortigas/Pasig as it's the one hospital that doesnt give me shplikes, so would 200k enough to cover the expenses for the procedure + anesthesiologist + room charges + everything else? tia

Have you consulted your surgeon? Ask him about his fees and what hospital/s he has priviledges in (if Med City is included) and also if he accepts health insurance cards (if you have one). You can try calling the Medical City and ask them about the price of their rooms which would be suitable for you. 200k should be enough if your surgery would be an uncomplicated one. There are certain cases that the lap chole was converted into open cholecystectomy intra-op (during surgery, depending on the findings of the surgeon). This would become additional expenses and may exceed 200k.

[treefingers]

doc,

>what are the causes of this?

> if one has it already, what kinds of food or activities should be avoided so it will not worsen?

> are there natural ways/food to cure this? like buko juice as i've heard?

treefingers

[baludoy]

i read somewhere it's partly due to your diet. if your eating habits are mostly confined to high calorie food stuffs, there is a possibility you might develop them later on. and if i remember right, woman are more susceptible to having them.

iyon lang alam ko kaya doc sagot naman

[treefingers]

akala ko mga lalake lang yung pwedeng magkaroon ng sakit sa bato.

[rich_girl]

ano ba cost ng stone sa gallbladder?

[rich_girl]

bakit may stone dun? or bakit nagkakaron ng stone?

[hilong_banak]

my gastroenterologist advised me to drink apple juice as often as possible. It may not remove the gall stones but for some reason, hinders its growth in size and in number.

[tigerman]

Just sharing:

My father was diagnosed with this disease last October. He decided to skip operation and tried his luck with those herbal teas.

Two weeks ago, "sinikmura" siya. My mom, who is a nurse, initially thought that it was caused by food poisoning. The doctor in the hospital said otherwise. After a lot of convincing, my father finally decided to go for the operation. Last week, laparoscopic surgery was performed on him. Thank God it was successful.




USTE LO MEJOR!
VIVA SANTO TOMAS!

[layer]

^no, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, as it's called, also entails removing the entire gallbladder. instead of one big incision, surgeons use several small incisions and insert scopes and instruments to remove the gallbladder. a more expensive procedure, but entails shorter hospital stays and faster recovery.