“Is surgery the only way to remove gallstones?”

Gallstones are very common in the US, but only 15-25% require surgery. Surgery is only indicated if you are symptomatic - no surgery is without risk, so risk must outweigh the benefits. If the stones were just an incidental finding on a CT scan and the GB look healthy, I would not offer surgery. There is no way to dissolve gallstones, but in societies that eat a more plant based diet cholecystectomies are rare.

Basically, the only way to get rid of gallstones is to remove the gallbladder. Diet changes (reducing fat and cholesterol intake) might help them regress but this is not observed much in practice. You don't need to remove the gallbladder if the stones are not causing symptoms.

Consult Functional Medicine. You have to radically change your diet and loose weight.

Gallstones often cause no symptoms but once they do, the proper treatment is surgical removal of the gallbladder. Non surgical treatments to remove stones are unproven, probably do not work, often a scam.

Dear Patient:

Gallstones can be dissolved, but just in a few cases; most of the time, when the symptoms starts, the only way to fix it is surgery. The medication used to do it is mainly ineffective; this reflects the amount of surgery done for GB issues in the USA. The smaller the stones are, the greater the symptoms will be.

Good luck,

ET

Most gallstones when symptomatic need surgical removal. Only a certain specific type of stones are known to have responded to nonsurgical treatment.

You must have your gallbladder removed if it has gallstones, it means it is not functioning properly and therefore unable to concentrate the bile elements well. Gallstones can obstruct the bile duct and/or the common bile duct causing Acute Cholecystitis and or Obstructive Jaundice. THEY DO NOT DISSOLVE ON THEIR OWN. Surgical Removal of the gallbladder is is the proper management.

Yes unfortunately surgery is the only option to remove the gallbladder due to gallstones. The entire gallbladder is removed. Your doctor is correct it’s not urgent but it’s just a matter of time when it becomes symptomatic

Your doctor can give you some things to help you dissolve the small stones and you need to change some of the things you eat and drink. He will give you some idea what that is. I wish you well

Your doctor is correct. Surgery is the only way to remove the gall stones. It's important for you to avoid recurrent episodes of pain and inflammation. Your general practitioner possibly has referred you to the specialist surgeon to discuss the option.

The amount and size of gallstones is not a trigger for me to operate or not operate. Your symptoms related to your gallstones are the trigger to operate sooner or later. Typical symptoms include right upper quadrant pain that occurs after meals (especially fatty, greasy, and oily foods), nausea, vomiting, and bloating. If these symptoms come and go, surgery can typically be done in an elective planned fashion. If these symptoms are persistent and last longer than 6 hours at a time, surgery needs to be performed more urgently, and frequently on an emergency basis.

Once you have gallstones, they do not go away. There is a medication called cholestyramine that can dissolve gallstones. This medication causes bloating, nausea, and constipation, which for many patients, is worse than their gallbladder symptoms. Furthermore, once you stop the cholestyramine, the stones will typically recur.

Surgery is the only definitive treatment. It is typically done via a minimally invasive (laparoscopic) fashion as an outpatient. Patients are sore for about 1-2 weeks and return to full activities and diet within 4-6 weeks. Patients who are working can usually return to work in 3-10 business days.