Cholelithiasis is another name for gallstones. It is the presence or the formation of gallstones in the gallbladder or the common bile ducts. Cholesterol stones account for 80% of all gallstones. The stones can be small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. An individual can have small gallstones for years that are asymptomatic and not require medical treatment.

When stones are larger than 8mm, they can cause the classic symptoms of a gallstone attack, especially after eating fatty foods. Biliary colic is the most common gallstone symptom. It causes excruciating pain in the upper-right abdomen that intensifies over the next thirty minutes to 4 or 5 hours. If the pain persists, you may have cholecystitis. This medical complication occurs when gallstones block the cystic duct, the tube that connects the gallbladder and the common bile duct, and inflame the gallbladder. In some cases, gallstones can create chest pain that mimic a heart attack. 

Patients with liver diseases, such as cirrhosis, have a greater tendency to develop gallstones. The scar tissue impedes the flow of bile from the liver and allows stones to form. 

Certain digestive diseases increase the risk for developing gallstones. Crohn’s disease affects the lowest part of the small intestine. Gallstones occur because the patients don’t have sufficient bile acids to make the cholesterol more water-soluble. 

Cholangitis and pancreatitis are two medical complications of gallstones. Cholangitis is a bacterial infection of the hepatic, intra-hepatic and common bile ducts, the tube that transports bile from the liver to the gallbladder. The infection occurs when gallstones block the biliary ducts. Symptoms of cholangitis include nausea, vomiting, chills, a high fever, elevated white blood cell count, abdominal pain, sepsis, liver abscesses and jaundice. 

Pancreatitis is inflammation of the organ that creates and releases insulin and secretes digestive enzymes, substances that help you break down and absorb food. Acute pancreatitis causes extreme and continuous abdominal pain for one or more days. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fever, an abnormally fast heart rate and abdominal swelling. Severe pancreatitis episodes can cause low blood pressure, shock, dehydration, organ failure and death.

Currently, there are no drugs or diets that consistently address the underlying issue of gallstones. Removing the stones and leaving the gallbladder in place allows the stones to reform. If you have recurring gallstone attacks, your physician will recommend a procedure, known as key-hole surgery, to remove your gallbladder. During the procedure the physician will make small incisions in your abdomen and use a camera to guide the surgical instruments. This surgery is minimally invasive and most patients are discharged the same day. In some cases, patients are released the following day.