Conventional methods of Western medicine for treating gallstones

Conventional methods of Western medicine for treating gallstones:

For asymptomatic gallstones, follow-up observation is recommended without treatment. Treatments for gallstones include surgical and non-surgical treatments.

1. Surgical treatment

Common surgical methods include open cholecystectomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Traditional open surgery is divided into antegrade resection and retrograde resection. If the gallbladder triangle is abnormal in anatomy or is difficult to separate due to inflammation, edema, or severe adhesions, a combination of antegrade and retrograde methods can also be used.

2. Non-surgical treatment

Non-surgical treatments for gallstone disease include lithotripsy, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, stone removal, and endoscopic stone removal. The first three are non-invasive, and the latter is invasive. Clinical practice shows that the lesions of gallstone disease are located in the gallbladder. Using only the above non-surgical treatments, some patients can temporarily remove the stones, but the lesions of the gallbladder itself cannot be cured. Long-term gallstone recurrence is inevitable, so caution should be exercised when choosing non-surgical treatments for gallstone disease.

1. Litholysis

Currently, lithotripsy is mainly carried out using chenodeoxycholic acid and its derivative ursodeoxycholic acid.

Treatment Indications:

① The gallstone is less than 2 cm in diameter;

② Gallstones contain less calcium and are stones that can be penetrated by X-rays;

③ A functional gallbladder can be shown in an oral cholecystogram;

④The patient's liver function is normal;

⑤No obvious history of chronic diarrhea.

2. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy

The main indication for gallstones is cholesterol stones in the gallbladder. Oral cholecystography is negative for stones with a diameter of 12 to 15 mm. No more than 3 people have a diameter of 15 to 20 mm. Only one person needs normal gallbladder contraction function.

3. Stone removal treatment

This treatment method is mainly based on the effects of some traditional Chinese medicines on increasing bile secretion, promoting gallbladder contraction and dilation of the sphincter of Oddi, combined with the understanding of modern medicine to form a combination of Chinese and Western medicine for stone treatment.