What are the symptoms of Cholecystitis?

Symptoms of acute cholecystitis may include:

Acute cholecystitis

• Pain - You may feel this discomfort in the center of the upper abdomen, just below the breastbone, or in the upper right portion of the abdomen, near the gallbladder and liver. In some people, the pain extends to the right shoulder. Symptoms typically start after eating.

• Fever and possibly chills

• Nausea and/or vomiting

• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes), dark urine and pale, grayish bowel movements. These symptoms appear when gallstones pass out of the gallbladder and into the common bile duct, blocking the flow of bile out of the liver.

When gallstones in the common bile duct block the flow of bile from the liver to the intestine, the patient may develop a serious infection of the bile ducts called cholangitis. The typical symptoms of cholangitis are fever, right upper abdominal pain, and jaundice. Another possible problem that may occur when gallstones pass into the common bile duct is acute pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas). Because the duct from the pancreas also flows into the common bile duct, stones there can block the pancreas, which causes it to become inflamed. Like cholangitis, acute pancreatitis can be serious.

Chronic cholecystitis

The major symptom of chronic cholecystitis is usually intermittent pain. However, some people do not have any symptoms. If there is pain, it is usually mild, and comes and goes. These rather nonspecific symptoms accompany many other illnesses, so you may not be diagnosed with chronic cholecystitis until you have an episode of more severe symptoms during a sudden attack.