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Treatment

Depending upon your symptoms and the results of your tests, your doctor will discuss the treatment options with you.

Asymptomatic gallstones

Some patients will be found to have gallstones that are not the cause of their symptoms. Other causes of upper abdominal pain include gastritis or stomach ulcers. Treatments for gallstones, such as surgery, carry some risks. Therefore, your doctor will try to determine whether your symptoms and test results suggest that your problems are caused by your gallstones. If it is not clear, they may recommend other tests, or a period of observation before deciding what treatment may be required.

Dietary changes

Some patients who have symptoms from gallstones find that excluding fat from their diet significantly limits their symptoms, such that they do not want any other treatments. More dietary information is provided on the Nutrition page.

Surgery

Surgery for gallstones is a very common operation, with approximately 70 000 procedures performed in England each year. Where possible, this will be performed using key-hole surgery. The decision to have any surgical procedure requires discussion of the likely benefits and risks so that patients with gallstones can make an informed decision about whether to have an operation. More information is provided on the Surgery page.

ERCP

Some patients who have had problems such as pancreatitis from gallstones, or a stone in the main bile duct, may require an endoscopic procedure to remove the stone in the bile tube. The short name for this is an ERCP, which stands for Endoscopic Retrograde CholangioPancreatogram. This is performed under sedation in the endoscopy department, and involves insertion of a tube through the mouth into the duodenum to allow the endoscopist to look at the bile duct and remove any stones. As this is an invasive procedure, there are some associated risks which your doctor will discuss with you. Sometimes ERCP is performed before or after surgery to remove the gallbladder, and in some patients who are not fit for (or do not want) surgery it may be used as the main treatment for their gallstones.