Other Treatment Options For Gallstones

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

07 Nov 2007 02:33 PM

There are other treatments for gallstones and gallbladder disease, but they are not widely available. Experts don't know as much about the effectiveness of other treatments as compared to laparoscopic and open surgery.

If gallstones are found in the common bile duct during surgery, they are usually removed while the gallbladder is being removed. Occasionally, a gastroenterologist may choose to use a special viewing technique to see the gallstones -- an endoscopic retrograde chonalgiopancreatogram. The ERCP allows the doctor to perform a non-surgical procedure to encourage stones to pass more easily out of the common bile duct. A flexible, lighted viewing instrument (the endoscope) is fed down the throat and through the stomach in order to examine the tubes that drain the liver and gallbladder. The doctor can use the endoscope to widen the common bile duct and remove the gallstone. This is generally used only when surgery to remove the gallbladder and/or clear the common bile duct is not an option.

Lithotripsy is a procedure that uses ultrasound waves to break up gallstones. It is not useful for treating sudden gallstone attacks, but has been used for people with chronic gallbladder inflammation.

Contact dissolution therapy introduces chemicals that can dissolve gallstones through a catheter. This procedure comes with a higher risk of complications than other treatment options and does not prevent gallstones from returning.

A percutaneous cholecystostomy provides temporary relief for an inflamed gallbladder by placing a tube through the abdomen and into the gallbladder to promote drainage. This may be done for people who are not strong enough for surgery, or as a prelude to ERCP or surgery.

When the gallbladder is not removed, up to fifty percent of all patients see gallstones return within five years. Surgery truly is your best option to take care of gallstones.

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