Gallstones vs. Bile Duct Stones
Gallstones are a common disease in the digestive system.
Especially in women more than men. It can be found from the age of 30-50 years. Of those who have gallstones, 6-12% of people can be found to have stones in the bile duct without symptoms. However, if you are over 60 years old, the number of cases may increase to 20-25%. Suspicious symptoms if you have gallstones are bloating, stomach tightness, indigestion, pain under the epigastric or right rib cage. However, when the gallstones flow into the bile duct and cause bile duct obstruction, you may also experience jaundice.
Symptoms and severity of the disease
Early stage of gallstones may not show any symptoms. Usually, there is abdominal pain about half an hour to 1 hour after eating, with symptoms of colic, stomach tightness in the area under the right ribs to the sternum. Sometimes, the pain may be severe enough to require a visit to a doctor. Similarly, some people may visit a doctor with symptoms แทงบอล UFABET ราคาดีที่สุด ไม่มีขั้นต่ำ of gallbladder infection, which has severe abdominal pain in that area, along with nausea, vomiting, and high fever. If the gallstones fall into the bile duct, it may cause bile duct obstruction and symptoms of jaundice, yellow body, yellow eyes, or acute cholangitis. Sometimes, gallstones in the bile duct can be the cause of acute pancreatitis.
However, the symptoms may improve if the gallstones blocking the gallbladder outlet flow back into the gallbladder.
Causing the patient to return to normal later. This symptom is a warning sign of gallstones (Biliary Colic) and should be observed if there is repeated episodes of abdominal pain like this because it may be the cause of chronic cholecystitis. If the gallstones are allowed to remain blocked for more than 24 hours, it will cause acute cholecystitis. The cause of acute cholecystitis is mostly gallstones or biliary sludge blocking the cystic duct, causing infection and inflammation. In cases where the gallstones fall into the bile duct, it may cause bile duct infection or acute pancreatitis. If the inflammation and infection are severe, it may cause a serious blood infection, even to the point of death.
What types of diagnostic tests are there?
Diagnosing bile duct stones, doctors may use an ultrasound through the digestive system or EUS (Endoscopic Ultrasound). Which is an endoscopy of the digestive system using high-frequency sound waves at the tip of the camera that allows doctors to see lesions deep under the stomach and intestinal walls, as well as other organs that normal endoscopy may not see. If a lump is found during the diagnosis, the doctor can immediately use an ultrasound guide to examine the tissue with a needle before collecting the tissue to examine for abnormal cells. Which may take about 3-5 days to wait for the results. In addition, there is an examination method using an endoscopy of the bile duct and pancreas or ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography), which is used to treat bile duct obstruction or jaundice, such as bile duct stones or lumps in the bile duct or around the bile duct obstruction.