Had Gall Bladder Removed After Stones In It. Is It Possible To Develop Gallstones Without Gallbladder?

Posted on Wed, 21 Aug 2013

Question: Hi, I had my gallbladder removed 16 years ago. In the last 3 years I have started having what feels like gallbladder attacks. When they performed my surgery it was pretty extensive, I ended up with a 7 inch incision on my abdomen and it took them nearly 5 hours to remove all the stones that had left the gallbladder and traveled in the bile ducts. (I think the count was like 47 stones) Is it possible to develop gallstones even without a gallbladder? Most of these "attacks" last 10 - 30 minutes with pain radiating into my back (between the shoulder blades) Is this something I should address with my doctor or just ignore? Thanks for your input.

Answered by Dr. Amit Jain (6 hours later)

Hello! Thanks for putting your query in XXXXXXX I am a Gastroenterologist (DM).

Yes stone can develope in bile ducts even after the removal of gallbladder.

The kind of pain you have described is typical of Gallstones or it may be simply dyspepsia arising from stomach or duodenum. So please consult your doctor regarding this pain who may advise you to get liver function tests and ultrasound abdomen. If both of these are normal may be endoscopy to see for the exact cause of pain

I hope I have answered your query and this will help you. Remain in touch and get-well soon.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar