Gall Bladder Polyps - What They Are And How To Treat Them

Categories

• Cholesterol polyps which are benign and are due to cholesterol crystal deposition in the gall bladder wall. These polyps are usually accompanied by small or larger cholesterol stones and their diameter does not exceed 10mm (60%).
• Inflammatory polyps, which also do not change, occur in cases of chronic cholecystitis.
• Adenomatous polyps which are papillomas of the gall bladder lining have the potential to mutate and lead to gall bladder cancer, one of the most aggressive cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. Sonographically they resemble cholesterol polyps and range in size from 5 to 15 mm and are usually solitary.
• Adenomyomatous polyps or adenomyosis, appears as a thickening of the gall bladder mainly at its bottom. It occurs mainly at older ages. It has been associated with malignant transformation and occurs in 20% of cases after cholecystectomy for gallstones.

Symptomatology

Most patients discover gall bladder polyps on a random ultrasound scan. They rarely show symptoms, unless the polyps are accompanied by gallstones, in which case they will appear with colic or signs of cholecystitis (abdominal pain, fever, vomiting), cholangitis or even pancreatitis. If their position is close to the cystic duct, they can again create a partial or even complete blockage of the "bile".

Also, multiple cholesterol polyps can create attacks of cholecystitis due to the irritation of its wall (cholesterolosis).

Diagnosis of gall bladder polyps

Polyps are usually diagnosed by ultrasound. It is the most appropriate, inexpensive and detailed method of diagnosing and monitoring "bile" polyps.

Other tests are CT and MRI, but in this particular case they only have a place in investigating the further aggressiveness and degree of penetration of a malignant polyp.