Guide To Treating And Preventing Acute Cholecystitis

Tube Insertion To Drain Infection

An acute cholecystitis patient may need to undergo an endoscopic ultrasonographic guided biliary drainage procedure to treat their infected gallbladder. This treatment is typically used in individuals who have not had success with other prior interventions, have an inaccessible ampulla, or have had a previously failed bile duct cannulation during an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

An endoscopic ultrasonographic guided biliary drainage procedure is performed by inserting an endoscope through the patient's mouth to reach their gallbladder and bile duct. Another procedure that involves making a small incision in the patient's abdomen to reach the gallbladder can also be used to drain the infection. In both procedures, a tube is inserted into the gallbladder, and the fluid or pus from inside of the gallbladder is given the opportunity to drain from the body. The removal of the infection from the gallbladder can help make antibiotics more effective at killing the causative bacteria.

Eat Smaller Meals

An individual affected by acute cholecystitis may be advised to eat multiple smaller meals during the day rather than three large meals. When an individual consumes food, it is digested by the acids in the stomach and then moves into the small intestine. Once food has reached the small intestine, the gallbladder contracts to squeeze bile into the small intestine. Bile helps the small intestine break down fats in the food.

A larger meal with greater fat content causes the production of more bile that will be drained into the small intestine to help with the digestion of fats. A gallbladder that has been damaged due to a recent acute episode of inflammation may be unable to return to its full functionality right away after the infection has been cleared. While the gallbladder tissues are healing, it may be best for an individual to spread the workload for their gallbladder out over several meals instead of expecting it to provide larger amounts of bile less frequently.