What Causes Severe Abdominal Pain Post Colonoscopy?

Posted on Thu, 13 Oct 2016

Question: The night after my colonoscopy was done, I went to the emergency room with bad stomach pain. It turned out that my gallbladder was full of stones + sludge. The plan for surgery was canceled after the pain went away, but the surgeon said he'd remove the gallbladder the next time I have a flare-up. What are my chances of never having another flare-up ? Do I really want to wait for another painful episode, or should I schedule the surgery before then ? Thank you for your advice, Greg XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Dr. Ivan Romich (40 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
It is possible but not probable

Detailed Answer:
Hi and welcome to HCM.
It is possible that you dont experience gallbladder attack in future or this may be once in few years. However, this is not likely since you have both stoens and sludge and this will probably not be abple to pass through bile duct into bowels.
Also, sludge may be very dangerous if it blocks bile duct or pancreatic duct. In this case acute inflammation of gallbladder or pancreas may happen and then urgent surgery is required and it complicates things a lot.
SO when we find such stones and sludge, it is very likely that you ll have several attacks per years and this is soemthing that may affect your life a lot. You should also watch your diet all the time and you ll be anxious about possiblity of acute cholecystitis and pancreatitis.
So we strongly recommend surgical removal of the gallbladder which is a routine procedure today and can be done laparoscopically.Recovery is quick and solution is permanent. and most efficient. Other methods such as litothipsy or medications are very doubtful and unefficient.
WIsh you good health. Regards

Note: Revert back with your health reports to get further guidance on your gastric problems. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng