Sac like structure on the inferior surface of the liver divided into the fundus, body, and neck.
The gallbladder is an organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine.
Its main function is to store bile, needed for the digestion of fats in food.
Bile is produced by the liver, and flows through small vessels into the larger hepatic ducts and ultimately through the cystic duct into the gallbladder, where it is stored.
30 to 60 millilitres of bile is stored within the gallbladder.
It is pear-shaped and lies beneath the liver.
A grey-blue organ, pear shaped, that sits in a depression below the right lobe of the liver.
The gallbladder varies in size, shape, and position between different people.
In adults, it measures approximately 7 to 10 centimetres in length and 4 centimetres in diameter.
The gallbladder has a capacity of about 50 cc.
The gallbladder wall is composed of a number of layers: innermost surface is lined by a single layer of columnar cells with a brush border of microvilli; below the epithelium is an underlying lamina propria, a muscular layer, an outer perimuscular layer and serosa.
The gallbladder does not have a muscularis mucosae.
Its muscular fibers are not arranged in distinct layers.
The inner mucosa is curved and has tiny outpouchings called rugae.
The smooth muscle layer sits beneath the mucosa and its fibers contract to expel bile from the gallbladder.
It opens into the cystic duct.
It is divided into three sections: the fundus, body, and neck.
The fundus is the rounded base.
The fundus faces the abdominal wall.
The body lies in the surface of the lower liver.
The neck is continuous with the cystic duct, part of the biliary drainage system.
The gallbladder fossa, where the fundus and body of the gallbladder lie, is found beneath the junction of hepatic segments IVB and V.
At the junction of the neck of the gallbladder and the cystic duct, the out-pouching of the gallbladder wall forms a mucosal fold known as “Hartmann’s pouch”.
Lymphatic drainage of the gallbladder follows the cystic node.
The cystic mode is located between cystic duct and common hepatic ducts.
Lymphatics from the lower part of the gallbladder drain into lower hepatic lymph nodes.
The gallbladder receives and stores bile, produced by the liver, via the common hepatic duct, and releases it via the common bile duct into the duodenum, where the bile helps in the digestion of fats.
It can be affected by ((gallstones)), usually cholesterol or bilirubin, a product of hemoglobin breakdown.
It is a pouch the size of a lime, sitting under the liver and stores bile.
Narrows into the cystic duct which drains the organ.
Cystic duct joins the common hepatic duct to form the common bile duct.
The common bile duct joins the pancreatic duct at the ampulla of Vater empting into the second portion of the duodenum.
The bile emulsifies fats in partly digested food, thereby assisting their absorption.
Bile consists of water and bile salts, and also acts as a means of eliminating bilirubin.
The bile that is secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder are not equivalent.
During gallbladder storage of bile, it is concentrated 3-10 fold by removal of some water and electrolytes.
Mucosa is columnar epithelium.
The gallbladder has Rokitansky–Aschoff sinuses, which are deep outpouchings of the mucosa that can extend through the muscular layer.
Foods containing fat stimulates the secretion of cholecystokinin (CCK) from I cells of the duodenum and jejunum.
Cholecystokinin causes the gallbladder to rhythmically contracts and releases its contents into the common bile duct.
These sinuses indicate adenomyomatosis.
The gallbladder muscular layer is surrounded by a layer of connective and fat tissue.
The surfaces of the GB not in contact with the liver, and the GB fundus are covered by a thick serosa, which is exposed to the peritoneal surface.
The GB surface serosa contains blood vessels and lymphatics.
The surfaces of the GB in contact with the liver are covered in connective tissue.
Gallbladder variations exist: two or even three gallbladders may coexist draining into the cystic duct.
Rarely, the gallbladder does not form at all.
Bilobed gallbladders with a septum may exist.
Gallbladders with two lobes do not affect function.
The location of the gallbladder in relation to the liver may vary: within, or above the liver.
Left lying variants are very rare.
The gallbladder develops from an endodermal outpouching of the embryonic gut tube.
Gallstones cause significant right upper quadrant pain, and are often treated with removal of the gallbladder, a cholecystectomy.
((Cholecystectomy)) is a procedure in which the gallbladder is removed.
The gallbladder may be removed because of recurrent gallstones and is considered an elective procedure.
A cholecystectomy procedure, the gallbladder is removed from the neck to the fundus, and so bile will drain directly from the liver into the biliary tree.
About 30 percent of patients may experience some degree of indigestion following the cholecystectomy.
About 10 percent of surgeries lead to a chronic condition of ((postcholecystectomy syndrome.)).
Bile duct injury is most commonly an iatrogenic complication of cholecystectomy.
The risk of biliary injury is more during laparoscopic cholecystectomy than during open cholecystectomy.
A biloma is collection of bile within the abdominal cavity, that occurs with a bile leak.
A biloma occurs after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, with an incidence of 0.3–2%.
A biloma can also occur with biliary surgery, liver biopsy, abdominal trauma, and, rarely, spontaneous perforation.
Gallstones form when the bile is saturated, usually with either cholesterol or bilirubin.
Most gallstones do not cause symptoms.
Most gallstones either remain in the gallbladder or passed along the biliary system.
Gallstones form when the bile is saturated, usually with either cholesterol or bilirubin.
Most gallstones do not cause symptoms.
Most gallstones either remain in the gallbladder or passed along the biliary system.
Gallbladder symptoms occur as
colicky pain in the upper right part of the abdomen.
If the gallstone blocks the gallbladder, inflammation known as cholecystitis may result.
If it lodges in the biliary system, jaundice may occur.
If the gallstone blocks the pancreatic duct, pancreatitis may occur.
Gallstone symptoms are likely to be recurrent, and surgery to remove the gallbladder is often considered.
For gallstones some medications, such as ursodeoxycholic acid, may be used, as well as lithotripsy.
Blocked bile accumulates, and pressure on the gallbladder wall may lead to the release of substances that cause inflammation, such as phospholipase, resulting in ((acute cholecystitis)).
Gallbladder symptoms occur as colicky pain in the upper right part of the abdomen.
If the gallstone blocks the gallbladder, inflammation known as cholecystitis may result.
If it lodges in the biliary system, jaundice may occur.
If the gallstone blocks the pancreatic duct, pancreatitis may occur.
Gallstone symptoms are likely to be recurrent, and surgery to remove the gallbladder is often considered.
For gallstones some medications, such as ursodeoxycholic acid, may be used, as well as lithotripsy.
Blocked bile accumulates, and pressure on the gallbladder wall may lead to the release of substances that cause inflammation, such as phospholipase, resulting in ((acute cholecystitis)).
Cholecystitis, the inflammation of the gallbladder, has a wide range of causes, including result from the impaction of gallstones, infection, and autoimmune disease.
((Gallbladder carcinoma)) is uncommon and mostly occurs in later life.
Gallbladder cancer mostly originates in the glands lining the surface of the gallbladder and is an adenocarcinoma.
Gallstones are thought to be linked to the formation of cancer.
Other risk factors for gallbladder carcinoma include: large (>1 cm) gallbladder polyps and having a highly calcified porcelain gallbladder.
Gallbladder polyps are mostly benign growths in the gallbladder wall.
Gallbladder polyps are only associated with cancer when they are larger in size (>1 cm).
Cancer of the gallbladder can cause biliary pain, jaundice, and weight loss.
Cancer of the gallbladder may be associated with a large gallbladder that may be palpable.
Ultrasound and CT scans are considered medical imaging investigations of choice for gallbladder cancer.
1–3% of cancers are identified incidentally after cholecystectomy.