Today, many are interested in the question of what the main symptoms of acute cholecystitis look like. After all, statistical data confirm that almost every fourth patient in the surgical department gets to the hospital with this diagnosis. So why does the disease occur and are there effective treatments?
Acute cholecystitis: causes of the disease
Cholecystitis is a disease accompanied by inflammation of the gallbladder. There may be several reasons for this violation. Nevertheless, in most cases, the cause of the inflammatory process is cholelithiasis, as a result of which the bile ducts are blocked by a stone. Symptoms of acute cholecystitis occur due to the penetration of infection into the bladder along with a violation of the normal outflow of bile.
In approximately 15% of cases, inflammation is the result of bending or lengthening of the ducts, which also violates the normal secretion.
In addition, serious conditions, including extensive burns and sepsis, can be attributed to risk factors. In some cases, cholecystitis develops after surgery on the abdominal organs. The risk of gallbladder inflammation increases in people with autoimmune diseases.
Statistics show that women over the age of 45 are more prone to this disease.
The main symptoms of acute cholecystitis
A similar disease begins acutely with cramping pain on the right side. Moreover, as the disease develops, seizures become longer and more painful. There is an increase in temperature to 37.5, and in more severe cases, up to 40 degrees. Weakness, dizziness, lethargy, dry mouth, frequent vomiting are also symptoms of acute cholecystitis. In severe forms of the disease, bloating is observed, as well as belching, sometimes yellowness of the skin.
Acute cholecystitis and diagnostic methods
Attacks can have different durations (from several hours to several days). But in any case, the patient with such symptoms must be urgently taken to the hospital - self-medication will not help here, but only complicate the situation.
In a medical institution, it is necessary to take blood tests (the disease is accompanied by an increase in the number of leukocytes) and undergo some research. Differential diagnosis of acute cholecystitis can be difficult, since hepatic colic, perforated gastric ulcer, appendicitis, pancreatitis are also accompanied by similar symptoms. In any case, only after making an accurate diagnosis can treatment begin.
Acute cholecystitis: surgery or conservative treatments?
In fact, surgery is almost always required to cure the disease. Exceptions are only those cases when inflammation is not associated with a violation of the normal outflow of bile. In the first few hours, patients are given antispasmodic drugs that eliminate pain, as well as antibiotics to fight the infection. After the symptoms subside, the patient is prescribed an operation during which the gallbladder is removed