Select a condition Absence seizures Acne ADHD Age-related macular degeneration AIDS Alzheimer's disease AMD Amebic dysentery Anal tears Angina, stable Angina, unstable Ankle sprain Anorexia Anxiety Appendicitis Arthritis Asthma in adults Asthma in children Athlete's foot Atrial fibrillation Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Autism Back pain Bacterial vaginosis Bad breath Bedsores Bedwetting Bell's palsy Benign prostatic hyperplasia Bipolar disorder Bladder infection in women Blood pressure Breast cancer Breast pain Bronchiectasis Bronchiolitis Bronchitis Bulimia Bunions Burning mouth syndrome Burns and scalds Canker sores Cardiac arrest Carpal tunnel syndrome Cataracts Cellulitis and erysipelas Chickenpox Childbirth, heavy bleeding Childbirth, tear or cut Chlamydia Chronic bronchitis Chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic prostatitis Chronic tension type headache Cold sores Colic in babies Colon and rectal cancer Colon and rectal cancer screening Colonic diverticular disease Common cold Conjunctivitis Constipation in adults Constipation in children COPD Crib death Deep vein thrombosis Dementia Depression in adults Depression in children Diabetes, type 1 Diabetes, type 2 Diarrhea in adults Diarrhea in children Diverticular disease Ear infection, middle ear Ear infection, outer ear Ear infection with discharge Ear infection with fluid Ear pain during air travel Ear wax Eczema Emphysema Endometriosis Enlarged prostate Epilepsy Episiotomy Erection problems Essential tremor Febrile seizures Fertility problems Fibroids Flu Gallstones Genital herpes Genital warts GERD GERD in children Glaucoma Gonorrhea Gout Group B streptococcus H. pylori infection Halitosis Hay fever Headache, chronic tension type Head lice Heart and circulation problems in diabetes Heart attack Heartburn Heart failure Heavy periods Heel pain Hemorrhoids Hepatitis B Hepatitis C Hernia Herpes, genital Herpes simplex eye infection High blood pressure High blood pressure in pregnancy High cholesterol HIV infection Hyperactivity IBS Incontinence in women Infection in newborn babies Infertility Influenza Insomnia in adults Irritable bowel syndrome Jaundice in newborn babies Jet lag Kidney infection Kidney stones Leg cramps Leg ulcers Lewy body dementia Lung cancer Lyme disease Macular degeneration Malaria prevention Manic depression Mastalgia Measles, mumps and rubella: prevention Melanoma Meniere's disease Meningococcal disease Menopause Migraine in adults Migraine in children MMR prevention Morning sickness Multiple sclerosis Nail infection, fungal Neck pain Nicotine addiction Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Nosebleeds in children Obesity Obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD Oral thrush Osteoarthritis Osteoporosis Ovarian cancer Painful periods Pancreas cancer Panic attacks Parkinson's disease PCOS Pelvic inflammatory disease Perineal care Peripheral arterial disease Peripheral vascular disease Pneumonia Polycystic ovary syndrome Postpartum depression Postpartum hemorrhage Post-traumatic stress disorder Preeclampsia Pregnancy, nausea Premature birth Pressure sores Prostate cancer Prostatitis, chronic Psoriasis PTSD Raynaud's disease Rectal cancer screening Recurrent cystitis Reflux in children Rheumatoid arthritis Scabies Schizophrenia Seasonal allergy Shoulder pain Sickle cell anemia Sickle cell disease SIDS Sinusitis Skin cancer (melanoma) Skin cancer (squamous cell) Sleep apnea Sleep problems in children Slipped disk Smoking Sore throat Stomach ulcers Stress headache Stress incontinence Stroke, emergency care Stroke prevention Sudden infant death syndrome Swimmer's ear Tennis elbow Tension headache Testicular cancer Thrush (oral) Tic douloureux Tinnitus Tonsillitis Toxoplasmosis in pregnancy Trigeminal neuralgia Underactive thyroid Urinary tract infections in children Varicocele Varicose veins Vascular dementia Warts Whiplash Wisdom teeth, impacted Wrinkles Yeast infection, vagina

Select treatment area Bladder & Kidneys Blood Brain & nervous system Cancer Children's health Diabetes Digestive system Ear, nose & throat Eating & weight Eyes Fertility Heart and circulation Hormones Infections Lungs & breathing Men's health Mental health Mouth Muscles & bones Pregnancy & childbirth Sexual health Skin Sleep Staying healthy Travel health Women's health

You may worry about how gallstones will affect you in the future. It depends on how bad your stones are and whether you have treatment.

If your gallstones cause symptoms, such as bouts of pain in your abdomen or inflammation of your gallbladder, the usual treatment is an operation to take out your gallbladder. With this treatment, there's a good chance you won't have any more symptoms. For example, more than 9 in 10 people who have this surgery because of painful gallstones stop getting the pain.^{1 2}

It is very unlikely that you will die from gallstones. This can only happen if you get serious problems and you don't get treatment quickly. Such problems are rare. Also, people almost never die from gallstones in countries like the United States because you can get good treatment.³

You may worry about gallstones causing cancer. Cancer of your gallbladder is also rare. About 80 percent of people who have this kind of cancer also have gallstones. But we don't know if the stones caused the cancer. Most people with gallstones don't get gallbladder cancer.⁴

If your gallstones have not caused you any symptoms, doctors say you have silent gallstones. In this case, you probably won't get any problems in the future. So you probably won't need treatment.

In one study, only 2 in 100 people with silent gallstones started getting pain from them over the course of a year.⁵ In another study, just 3 in 100 people got problems from their stones over the course of 10 years.⁵

The pain you get in your abdomen from your gallstones is called biliary pain. If you have had an attack of this pain, you may get more. And you might need an operation to take out your gallbladder. This should stop you from getting more attacks.^{1 2}

But other symptoms, like feeling sick to your stomach and getting indigestion, might not go away after your operation. This may be because gallstones were not the cause of these symptoms.^{1 6}

Researchers have looked at what happens to people who get attacks of biliary pain if they don't have treatment. Here is what studies show:⁷

• About half of people who get an attack of this pain get another within one year.
• Some people have one or two attacks of biliary pain and then don't have any symptoms for many years. About 1 in 3 people who have an attack don't have another one for 10 years.
• In a year, 1 or 2 in 100 people who get attacks of biliary pain get a problem such as inflammation of their gallbladder.
• If you get attacks of biliary pain often, you will likely keep getting them often. If you only get attacks rarely, you will likely keep getting them rarely.

If your gallstones give you an inflamed gallbladder or other problems, you will probably need to go to the hospital. Between 1 in 100 and 3 in 100 people with painful gallstones get an inflamed gallbladder.⁸

Your doctor will usually suggest an operation to take out your gallbladder. This should stop symptoms such as pain in your abdomen and fever. It should also stop you from getting more pain attacks.^{1 2}

Most people who have an inflamed gallbladder find the pain either doesn't go away or comes back soon if they don't have treatment. About 1 in 3 people who don't have treatment for an inflamed gallbladder get the same problem, or another gallstone problem, within three months.⁷

Inflammation of your gallbladder can lead to serious problems. In about 1 in 10 people with this, the gallbladder bursts or starts to die (called gangrene).⁹ If this happens, you need emergency surgery. Without treatment, about 1 in 5 people die.¹⁰

Here are some other serious problems you can get from gallstones.⁹

If a stone stops bile from flowing properly, the bile can get infected.⁵ When this infection happens in the tube that carries bile to your bowel (your bile duct), it is called cholangitis.

This is serious. It causes pain in your abdomen, yellow skin and eyes (called jaundice) and a fever. But getting an infection of your bile duct is rare.⁹

This happens when a stone blocks lower down in your bile duct. The blockage can stop the flow of digestive juices from your pancreas. So it gets inflamed. Doctors call this pancreatitis.

About 1 in 20 people with painful gallstones get an inflamed pancreas.⁹ If this happens, you might need surgery.⁹

Your gallbladder sits near your bowel. So if your gallbladder gets very inflamed, it may stick to part of your bowel. This could make a hole in your bowel. Doctors call this a fistula.

You will probably need an operation to take out your gallbladder and fix the hole. But getting a hole in your bowel is rare.⁹

Fortunately not. You can live quite healthily without your gallbladder.

After your gallbladder is taken out your liver will carry on making bile. Bile is the digestive juice that is usually stored in the gallbladder until it's needed. When you eat the bile is pumped into your bowel to help digest your food. If you don't have a gallbladder, the bile will flow straight into your bowel more often.

Having more bile in the bowel can cause diarrhoea. About 1 in 100 people who have their gallbladder removed get diarrhoea.¹¹

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.