1,500 Gallstones removed from woman after months of junk food, antacid use

In an extraordinary medical case, doctors in Delhi successfully removed 1,500 gallstones from a 32-year-old woman. The woman, who works in IT, had a habit of consuming a lot of junk and fatty foods, which often left her feeling bloated and heavy. To manage these uncomfortable sensations, she regularly took over-the-counter antacids over the past few months.
She also suffered from recurring pain in her upper right abdomen, which sometimes spread to her back and right shoulder. This pain was often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
She reached out to her family doctor, who recommended an ultrasound. The scan showed that her gallbladder was packed with stones.
Specialists at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital suggested a minimally invasive procedure known as laparoscopic cholecystectomy to remove the gallbladder and the stones.
Under the leadership of Dr. Manish K Gupta, Vice Chairperson and Senior Consultant in Laparoscopic and General Surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the surgical team made incisions of 10mm and 5mm in her abdomen to extract the gallbladder.
Dr Manish noted that changing lifestyles, sometimes long gaps between two meals, and long fasting that leads to the precipitation of bile are all increasing the incidence of gallstones in the country.
"Even though small, the stones may slip down to the Common Bile Duct (CBD) and lead to jaundice and pancreatitis. Similarly, large stones, if left untreated in the gallbladder for a very long time, can predispose to cancer of gall bladder due to chronic irritation," he added.
With IANS INPUTS