Doctors take out 838 stones from woman's gallbladder

New Delhi: A 60-year-old woman, who was suffering from acute stomach pain, had over 830 stones removed from her gallbladder at a city hospital here, doctors said today.

The patient, suspected to be suffering from a cancerous tumour, had also been experiencing intermittent bouts of fever and was advised to go for an ultrasound and CT scan.

A team of specialists at Fortis Hospital in Shalimar Bagh performed a two-hour laparoscopic procedure on the patient in January to remove her gallbladder.

"The patient's gallbladder was extremely inflamed and had grown six times its original size. As per plan, this was a laparoscopic surgery wherein her gallbladder would be removed," said Amit Javed, consultant, gastrointestinal surgery at Fortis Hospital.

"However, after its removal, when we opened the gallbladder to look at what was inside before sending it for biopsy, to our astonishment, we found several hundred small and large gall stones inside it. In total, there were 838 gallstones," Javed said.

Gallstones cause inflammation of gall bladder, severe pain and symptoms of indigestion and complications like blockage of the bile duct, leading to jaundice, severe infection, and pancreatitis. They are also commonly found in patients with gall bladder cancer.

"The only remedy to both gallstones as well as cancer of the gallbladder is complete removal of the organ. Gallstones are masses formed abnormally in the gall bladder or bile ducts from bile pigments, cholesterol, and calcium salts.

"Gallstones can also develop when there is too much cholesterol in the bile secreted by the liver. The incidents of gallbladder cancer in North and Central India are very high, and commoner in women. Northern India is much more prone to gallbladder cancer than South India," Mahipal Bhanot, Facility Director at the hospital said.