Cholesystitis

Cholecystitis

Cholecystitis is a pathologic condition that causes inflammation to the gallbladder. Diagnosis is usually made with ultrasound of the abdomen. If the neck of the gallbladder is obstructed, that cannot be visualized, so this calls for another imaging test called a Hepatobiliary Iminodiacetic Acid (HIDA) Scan, a radioactive tracer is injected into a vein in your arm. The tracer travels through your bloodstream to your liver, where the bile-producing cells take it up. The tracer then travels with the bile into your gallbladder and through your bile ducts to your small intestine. An elevated white blood cell count is usually seen as well. (Magill’s 2017).

There are two forms of Cholecystitis, calculous and acalculous. Calculous is most common, it is seen in ninety percent of cases. This is caused by the obstruction of the neck of the gallbladder by the gallstones which are usually made up of cholesterol. Usually, when a fatty meal is eaten, fat in the duodenum, the first and shortest part of the small intestine, stimulates the gallbladder to contract and release bile. When the bile flow is obstructed, bile in the gallbladder becomes overly concentrated and irritates the lining of the gallbladder, leading to the inflammation. (human diseases, 2010).

Only ten percent of Cholecystitis cases are acalculous, and in these cases, the cause is not gallstones. Sometimes Cholecystitis can present from other causes such as sepsis, severe trauma, severe burns, and the postpartum state, bacterial infection in the bile duct system. Tumors of the pancreas or liver, a tumor can stop bile from draining out of your gallbladder, reduced blood supply to the gallbladder, this may happen if you have diabetes. Gallbladder sludge, this is a thick material that can’t be absorbed by bile in your gallbladder. The sludge builds up in your gallbladder; it happens mainly to pregnant women