Gallstones Flashcards
What is the clinical presentation of the majority of gallstones?
Asymptomatic (80%)
What are the components of bile?
Cholesterol, bile pigments (from broken down Hb), and phospholipids.
What type of gallstone is described and what causes it?
Small, bilirubin and irregular.
- Pigment stones (5%)
2. Haemolysis
What type of gallstone is described and what causes it?
Large, yellow and coloured.
- Cholesterol stones (20%)
2. Fat, fair, female, forty, fertile.
What type of gallstone is described?
Calcium, bile pigment and cholesterol.
Mixed stones (75%)
What are the risk factors for developing cholesterol gallstones?
Fat, fair, female, forty, fertile, family history.
What is the primary risk factor for developing pigment gallstones?
Haemolytic anaemia increases bilirubin
Which form of inflammatory bowel disease predisposes to gallstones and why?
- Crohn’s
2. Malabsorption of bile salts from the terminal ileum.
What are the steps of gallstone formation?
- Supersaturation of cholesterol
- Not enough bile salts
- Gallbladder stasis
What are the complications of gallstones from least to most severe?
- Biliary colic
- Acute cholecystitis
- Chronic cholecystitis
- Ascending cholangitis
- Gallstone ileus
What is this a presentation of and what causes it?
RUQ pain which radiates to the back, typically worse post-prandially, nausea, vomiting, normal WCC, cannot sit still.
- Biliary colic
2. Transient obstruction of biliary tree typically by gallstones.
How is biliary colic investigated?
- Elevated ALP suggests obstruction of cystic common bile duct.
- Abdominal USS is the single best test
What is the treatment for biliary colic?
- Observation if asymptomatic
- Analgesia, NBM, IV fluids
- Laparoscopic cholecystectomy if cholelithiasis
- ERCP if choledocholithiasis
What is this a presentation of and what causes it?
RUQ/mid-epigastric pain, Murphy’s sign +ve, palpable tender gallbladder, nausea, vomiting, fever, local peritonism, raised WCC.
- Acute cholecystitis
- 90% caused by complete cystic duct obstruction which leads to damage of mucosa and acute inflammation within the gallbladder, bacterial growth from bile stasis.
How is acute cholecystitis investigated?
- FBC suggests and inflammatory process, high CRP.
- LFTs show a cholestatic picture - high ALP, GGT, conjugated bilirubin.
- USS shows a thick walled gallbladder