Cholecystectomy – any different treatments?

[Annette Anderson]

For patients with no gallbladder, is the treatment different? Or do we still assess based on labs, symptoms, etc?
(I have a friend w/ no gallbladder who claims she doesn’t digest meat very well (she feels it sitting in her stomach), but she also consistently doesn’t thoroughly chew her foods. She has done no testing to assess digestive function, etc.)

[DrWoeller]

Annette,
Yes. The same tests apply. The problem with having no gallbladder is the bile excretions that get produced by the liver have no where to be stored. They just leak into the bile ducts and flow into the intestines. There isn’t a coordinated communication between the stomach, liver and pancreas for optimal nutrition. However, the fact that she doesn’t digest meat very well could also mean hydrochloric acid production is poor in the stomach.

Dr. Woeller

[Author]

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