6 years of ‘acidity’ turns out to be 2k gallstones

Noida: Around 2,000 gallstones were removed from the gallbladder of an 83-year-old Bulandshahr resident during a rare laparoscopic surgery at a private hospital in Indirapuram, ending six years of persistent abdominal pain.

The stones, weighing 150-200 grams in total, had completely packed the gallbladder, making the procedure longer than usual and technically challenging.The doctors said Deep Chand Gupta, an advocate by profession, had ignored pain in his upper abdomen for nearly six years. He had been experiencing recurrent bouts of pain along with some discomfort in his chest for nearly six years. The pain would often radiate to his back as well, but he ignored it, assuming it was an acidity problem.He was admitted to Yashoda Medicity on June 15 with acute abdominal pain. After an investigation, doctors found his gallbladder was completely packed with stones and its wall had thickened because of long-standing inflammation, a condition known as calculous cholecystitis. The next day, doctors removed nearly 2,000 gallstones of varying sizes — from tiny mustard seed-like particles to chickpea-sized stones — through a laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

The stones weighed around 150-200 grams. Surgeons said that finding such a large number of gallstones in a single patient is uncommon. Patients generally have a single to a dozen such stones.“To reach a count of nearly 2,000 stones, the disease process has likely been active for 10 to 15 years,” the vice chairman and head of the Institute of minimal access, robotic and bariatric surgery of the hospital, Dr Pradeep K. Dewan, said.

“The gallbladder has a remarkable ability to stretch and accommodate these stones silently. By the time the patient experiences the severe pain, we are looking at least a decade’s worth of crystal formation.

”The surgery lasted around 90 minutes, considerably longer than a routine laparoscopic procedure because the gallbladder was densely packed with stones and chronic inflammation had made dissection difficult.

“The patient’s biggest mistake was ignoring persistent symptoms for several years. Had treatment been delayed further, he could have developed complications such as jaundice, pancreatitis or severe infection.

In rare cases, prolonged gallbladder disease is also associated with an increased risk of gallbladder cancer,” the doctor said.The doctors said the patient also had hypertension and serum electrolyte imbalance. “Such patients require careful pre-operative optimisation because surgery carries a higher risk,” he said. “While genetics play a role, one’s daily habits are one’s best defence. The most effective precaution is maintaining a stable, healthy weight. I strongly warn patients against ‘crash’ diets or rapid weight loss, which actually spikes cholesterol in the bile and triggers rapid stone formation.

Eat regular, fiber-rich meals to keep the gallbladder actively contracting and flushing.”Doctors said the patient was able to walk within four hours of the surgery and was discharged on June 17.