Doctors use your medical history, a physical exam, and lab and imaging tests to diagnose gallstones.
A health care professional will ask you about your symptoms. He or she will ask if you have a history of health conditions or health concerns that make you more likely to get gallstones. The health care professional also may ask if you have a family history of gallstones and what you typically eat. During a physical exam, the health care professional examines your body and checks for pain in your abdomen.
What tests do health care professionals use to diagnose gallstones?
Health care professionals may use lab or imaging tests to diagnose gallstones.
Lab tests
A health care professional may take a blood sample from you and send the sample to a lab to test. The blood test can show signs of infection or inflammation of the bile ducts, gallbladder, pancreas, or liver.
Imaging tests
Health care professionals use imaging tests to find gallstones. A technician performs these tests in your doctor’s office, an outpatient center, or a hospital. A radiologist reads and reports on the images. You usually don’t need anesthesia or a medicine to keep you calm for most of these tests. However, a doctor may give you anesthesia or a medicine to keep you calm for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).
Ultrasound. Ultrasound is the best imaging test for finding gallstones. Ultrasound uses a device called a transducer, which bounces safe, painless sound waves off your organs to create an image or picture of their structure. If you have gallstones, they will be seen in the image. Sometimes, health care professionals find silent gallstones when you don’t have any symptoms.
Computed tomography (CT) scan. CT scans use a combination of x-rays and computer technology to create images of your pancreas, gallbladder, and bile ducts. CT scans can show gallstones, or complications such as infection and blockage of the gallbladder or bile ducts. However, CT scans also can miss gallstones that you may have.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI machines use radio waves and magnets to produce detailed images of your organs and soft tissues without x-rays. MRIs can show gallstones in the ducts of the biliary tract.
Cholescintigraphy. Cholescintigraphy—also called a hydroxyl iminodiacetic acid scan, HIDA scan, or hepatobiliary scan—uses a safe radioactive material to produce pictures of your biliary tract. You’ll lie on a table while a health care professional injects a small amount of the radioactive material into a vein in your arm. The health care professional may also inject a substance that causes your gallbladder to squeeze. A special camera takes pictures of the radioactive material as it moves through your biliary tract. Doctors use cholescintigraphy to diagnose abnormal contractions of your gallbladder or a blockage in the bile ducts.
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).ERCP combines upper gastroendoscopy and x-rays to treat problems of your bile and pancreatic ducts. ERCP helps the health care professional locate the affected bile duct and the gallstones. This test is more invasive—or involves more instruments inside your body—than other tests. Doctors use it selectively, usually to remove a gallstone that is stuck in the common bile duct.
This test is the one most commonly used to look for signs of gallstones. Abdominal ultrasound involves moving a device (transducer) back and forth across your stomach area.
This test is the one most commonly used to look for signs of gallstones. Abdominal ultrasound involves moving a device (transducer) back and forth across your stomach area.
Ursodiol is used to treat people with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC; formerly known as a primary biliary cirrhosis; an autoimmune liver disease). Ursodiol is in a class of medications called gallstone dissolution agents.
Lithotripsy. Lithotripsy, or shock wave dissolution of gallstones, is a new technique that uses a highly focused sound wave to break the stones up into tiny particles that can then pass through the cystic duct into the common duct and out into the intestine.
Ultrasound. Ultrasound is the best imaging test for finding gallstones. Ultrasound uses a device called a transducer, which bounces safe, painless sound waves off your organs to create an image or picture of their structure.
pain in your abdomen lasting several hours. nausea and vomiting. fever—even a low-grade fever—or chills. yellowish color of your skin or whites of your eyes, called jaundice.
Yes, research shows people who drink a lot of soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks also tend to have more gallbladder problems, including gallbladder cancer. Cutting sweet drinks could reduce symptoms as well as lower your risk for these problems.
Sudden and rapidly intensifying pain in the upper right portion of your abdomen. Sudden and rapidly intensifying pain in the center of your abdomen, just below your breastbone. Back pain between your shoulder blades. Pain in your right shoulder.
While sipping on coffee might help keep gallstones at bay, it's a different story if you already have them. Caffeine, the natural stimulant found in coffee, causes the gallbladder to tighten up. If you have gallstones, this can cause pain.
For gallbladder pain relief, you can try applying a warm compress to the affected area. You may be able to drink peppermint tea to soothe the pain or take a magnesium supplement to help empty your gallbladder. But there's not much else you can do to relieve the pain at home.
Without a gallbladder, gallstones may form in other organs connected to the bile ducts, such as the pancreas. In some cases, the stones may pass from one area to another and cause complications. Gallstones can also form in the liver, but this is rare.
If gallstones lodge in a bile duct and cause a blockage, it eventually results in severe life-threatening complications such as bile duct inflammation and infection, pancreatitis or cholecystitis (an inflammation of gallbladder). In addition, if left untreated, it might increase risk of “gallbladder cancer”.
As such, ultrasound is the imaging modality of choice for initial assessment of suspected gallbladder pathology. CT however can be very effective at assessing extra-biliary gallstone pathology and complications arising from gallstone pancreatitis and cholecystitis [8, 10].
Abdominal ultrasound, endoscopic ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) can be used to create pictures of your gallbladder and bile ducts. These pictures may show signs of cholecystitis or stones in the bile ducts and gallbladder.
An abdominal ultrasound examination and a blood test to measure liver function tests (LFTs) should be arranged for people suspected of having gallstone disease. If gallstones are not detected by ultrasound but suspicion of symptomatic gallstone disease remains high, further tests may be arranged in secondary care.
Introduction: My name is Kareem Mueller DO, I am a vivacious, super, thoughtful, excited, handsome, beautiful, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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