2023-05-10 09:11:27
A small pear-shaped sac about 10 cm long, the gallbladder (here shown in green) stores part of the bile produced by the liver. Stones can form there which, if they migrate, risk blocking the channel through which bile travels to the intestine. Freshidea/Adobe stock
In this sac responsible for storing bile, stones can form capable of causing severe pain. It is then necessary to remove the vesicle, an operation undergone each year by more than 90,000 French people.
They measure from a millimeter to several centimeters, are hard as pebbles and stay at the bottom of the gallbladder. These are gallstones, hosted by 10 to 15% of the adult population, and up to 30% after 60 years. What they have in common with the more well-known kidney stones is that they can block the entrance to a channel or migrate along it. The key is potentially very severe pain and a host of complications that need to be eliminated. And if 80% of carriers of gallstones live with them without knowing it, 20% develop symptoms. What should I know about these calculations, and what to do in case of pain?
The gallbladder definitely does not have a prestigious role: located under the liver, it produces nothing, and only serves to store bile. Manufactured by the liver, it is usually sent to the intestine via the bile duct, or “bile duct”, to participate in the digestion of fats. But a small part is…
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