TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

If it takes gall, we've got it

ADVERTISEMENT

By PHILIP MORGAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 27, 2007

I occasionally ponder which organ will fail first, and it's nice to know I could catch a break: Fate might spin its bony finger and land on — lucky me — my gallbladder!

Not that doctors are suggesting people have it cut out with their next tummy tuck, but it seems the gallbladder, like the hand crank on a Ford, once served a more purposeful existence than it does now.

Its job is to concentrate the bile the liver produces. During digestion, the gallbladder pumps its bile into the small intestine to break down fat.

Most people remain blissfully unaware of their gallbladder's workaday life. Others find their attention suddenly riveted on a sharp pain to the right of the stomach, near the line of the last rib.

That's one of the symptoms of gallstones, which are hardened bits of mostly cholesterol that block the bile duct. During attacks, the pain tends to last 30 to 40 minutes before subsiding. It can radiate toward the center of the torso and, on rare occasions, to the left side.

Some people become nauseated and vomit. If infection sets in, fever develops and the sufferer's white cell count climbs. Then, the problem becomes more urgent, says surgeon Larry Carey, deputy chief of staff at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center and a professor at the University of South Florida College of Medicine.

Physicians tend to reach a diagnosis of gallbladder disease when a patient has repeated attacks and other possibilities have been ruled out, Carey says.

The usual solution these days is to extract the gallbladder through laparoscopic surgery. Bile is redirected directly from the liver to the small intestine, and the digestive juice continues to be delivered on cue. It's less concentrated, Carey says, but does the job quite adequately.

Researchers have tried to measure changes in people who have had their gallbladders removed and "there's no appreciable difference," Carey says.

Too bad we don't have a nifty natural backup system for the heart.

Reach reporter Philip Morgan at (813) 259-7609 or pmorgan@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT