Pain in the abdomen caused by gallstones in the bile duct or by inflammation of the gall bladder.
An opening which discharges bile on to the surface of the skin from the gall bladder, bile duct or liver.
Severe, constant pain in the upper abdomen. Pain may radiate to the right shoulder and the back and can mimic the pain of a heart attack. Biliary colic is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Attacks occur intermittently and generally last for hours. Gallstones (solid masses that form in the gallbladder) are the most common cause of biliary colic. At times, a stone leaves the gallbladder and becomes lodged in the bile duct. Colic occurs as the gallbladder and bile duct muscle clamp down in an attempt to expel the stone into the intestines. Cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder) may also develop.
Pain resulting from obstruction of the gall bladder or common bile duct, usually by a stone. The pain, which is very severe, is usually felt in the upper abdomen (in the midline or to the right). It often occurs about an hour after a meal (particularly if fatty), may last several hours, and is usually steady in severity (unlike other forms of colic ). Vomiting often occurs simultaneously.
Severe pain caused by the attempted (and sometimes successful) expulsion of a gall-stone from the gall-bladder via the bile duct. The pain, which is felt in the upper right corner of the abdomen, may last for an hour or more. Strong analgesics are required to subdue the pain and the patient may need hospital admission for examination and eventual surgery. Attacks may recur, and the pain is sometimes mistakenly diagnosed as signalling a heart attack.
Intense discomfort experienced in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen characterizes biliary colic, which typically arises due to the gallbladder’s efforts to expel gallstones or the movement of a stone within the bile ducts. The pain can radiate to the right shoulder or extend towards the center of the back. Episodes of biliary colic commonly persist for several hours and may recur, especially following meals.
To alleviate biliary colic, injections of analgesic and antispasmodic medications are often administered. Diagnostic procedures like cholecystography or ultrasound scanning can verify the existence of gallstones. If gallstones are detected, cholecystectomy, the surgical extraction of the gallbladder, may be recommended as a treatment option.
The intense pain caused by gallstones in the gallbladder.