LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Gallbladder: Gallstones
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It is possible... to have a gallbladder attack without stones getting stuck. This is called acalculus ("stone-free ”) cholecystitis, which is rarer and somewhat more difficult to diagnose. Sometimes the stone just causes inflammation or irritation and may not become stuck in the duct, so the pain is a bit different. This type of situation can be more difficult to diagnose because it fits more into the broad, catch-all term of indigestion, and may be more an indigestion issue than a gallstone problem.
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It is not uncommon for people who have their gallbladder removed to have gallstones in their liver. When the bile that is produced in the liver cannot be stored in the gallbladder anymore, it tends to get congested and become stagnant in the liver. When the bile is stagnant in the liver for too long, it becomes too concentrated; then cholesterol and bile pigments may crystalize to form stones in the liver similar to what happens in the gallbladder.
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On occasion, gallbladder cancer is diagnosed incidentally. About one percent of all patients who have their gallbladder removed for symptomatic gallstones are found to have gallbladder cancer. The cancer is found either by the surgeon or by the pathologist who inspects the gallbladder with a microscope.
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Acute or chronic inflammation of the gallbladder (cholecystitis) causes abdominal pain. 90% of cases of acute cholecystitis are caused by the presence of gallstones. The actual inflammation is due to secondary infection with bacteria of an obstructed gallbladder, with the obstruction caused by the gallstone.
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A Consensus Development Conference panel, convened by the National Institutes of Health in September 1992, endorsed laparoscopic cholecystectomy as a safe and effective surgical treatment for gallbladder removal, equal in efficacy to the traditional open surgery. The panel noted... that laparoscopic cholecystectomy should be performed only by experienced surgeons and only on patients who have symptoms of gallstones.
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During a physical exam, your health care provider may be able to feel that you have a large liver and gallbladder. You may have blood tests. However, gallbladder cancer is difficult to diagnose. Gallbladder cancer is usually found unexpectedly during surgery to remove gallstones.
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Gallstones