The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located below the liver. It stores a greenish-yellow digestive fluid called bile that is produced by the liver. Bile contains bile salts, bilirubin (a waste product comprised of the remains of old blood cells), cholesterol, electrolytes, and other fats. Bile promotes the proper absorption of cholesterol, fats, and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). The bile salts also promote the secretion of water and other salts from the large intestine, leading to effective waste elimination. Finally, bile carries the breakdown products of some drugs and waste products processed by the liver.
The process of digestion cues the gallbladder into secreting stored bile into the small intestine. The fluid travels from the gallbladder, through the cystic duct, into the bile duct, and then into the small intestine where it mixes with food and helps promote proper digestion.
A gallstone may form from the crystallization of excess cholesterol that combines with bile salts and other components of your bile. They range from as small as a pinhead to as large as a golf ball. Problems occur when the stone travels from the gallbladder into either the cystic or bile duct or the stone remains in the gallbladder and amasses to a larger size. When gallstones are located in the gallbladder, the condition is referred to as Cholelithiasis. When they are located in the bile ducts, the condition is referred to as Choledocholithiasis.
Gallstones affect approximately 20% of women and 8% of men over forty years of age.
