How many gallbladders does a person have

To maintain the health of the gallbladder, you must first maintain a good attitude. When people are angry or have large emotional fluctuations, the gallbladder is prone to contraction and pain. The gallbladder secretes bile, which has a certain promoting effect on the health of the body. It can promote the digestion and absorption of fat. In order to protect the gallbladder, in addition to maintaining an optimistic attitude, you can also supplement nutrition through diet. So how many gallbladders does a person have?

The gallbladder is one of the six internal organs and is also one of the extraordinary internal organs. The gallbladder is sac-shaped, attached to the short lobes of the liver and connected to the liver. The liver and gallbladder are connected by meridians and are mutually exterior and interior.

The gallbladder is located in the right upper abdomen, at the lower edge of the liver, attached to the gallbladder fossa of the liver, and connected to the common bile duct by the cystic duct. It is pear-shaped, about 7 to 9 cm long and 2.2 to 3.5 cm wide, with a volume of 30 to 50 ml, and is divided into three parts: base, body, and neck. The base is free, the body is located in the gallbladder bed on the visceral surface of the liver, and the neck is sac-like, where stones are often embedded. The cystic duct is about 2 to 4 cm long and 0.3 cm in diameter. It contains spiral mucosal folds that regulate the inflow and outflow of bile. The cystic duct and its opening vary greatly and are often easily damaged during surgery.

The functions of the gallbladder are as follows

(l) Storage and concentration of bile during digestion. Through neural regulation, the common bile duct sphincter contracts, the gallbladder expands, and a pressure gradient is generated in the bile duct. The bile secretion pressure is 2.933 KPa (22 mmHg), the common bile duct hydrostatic pressure is 1.46 KPa (11 mmHg), and the gallbladder pressure is 0.400~0.933 KPa (3~7 mmHg). Bile from the liver enters the gallbladder due to the pressure difference. Bile storage mainly occurs at night when the stomach is fasting, but the sphincter is not completely closed and some bile still enters the small intestine. It is reported that only 50% of bile enters the gallbladder when the stomach is fasting.

The gallbladder has a volume of about 50 ml and increases the storage of bile through its concentrating function. By absorbing 90% of the water in bile, about 500% ml of bile can be stored, storing most of the bile acid pool in it. Studies have shown that the absorption of sodium chloride by the gallbladder mucosa against the electrochemical gradient is the action of the sodium pump, which in turn produces an osmotic pressure difference, absorbs water, and thus concentrates the bile 5 to 20 times.

The gallbladder mucosa can absorb free bilirubin, free bile acids and lecithin, but the absorption of cholesterol is very limited. It has almost no absorption effect on conjugated bilirubin and conjugated bile acids.

The gallbladder contrast agent is secreted into the hepatic bile by hepatocytes and is not absorbed after entering the gallbladder. After concentration, the gallbladder can be visualized under X-rays. When the gallbladder's concentrating function is impaired or the cystic duct is blocked, the gallbladder will not be visualized. Damage to the gallbladder mucosa increases contrast agent absorption and is also a factor in the lack of gallbladder visualization. The pH value of gallbladder bile is lower than that of liver bile, which is the result of H+ secretion and H+-Na+ exchange by the gallbladder mucosa. It is also possible that the gallbladder mucosa absorbs HCO3-, acidifying the gallbladder bile.

(2) Emptying of bile Gallbladder emptying also requires the interaction between the gallbladder and the common bile duct sphincter. When bile is emptied, the gallbladder smooth muscle contracts and the sphincter relaxes.

The hydrostatic pressure of the gallbladder is approximately 0.863 KPa (8.8 mmHg), which is not significantly different from that of the common bile duct area. One minute after eating, gallbladder pressure rises to 1.363KPa (13.9 mmHg). After that, about 1.5 ml of bile flows into the duodenum within 2 minutes, and then the gallbladder pressure decreases and the bile flow stops. This is due to the stimulation of the vagus nerve. About 7 minutes later, when the food enters the duodenum, the bile flow repeats and enters a stable state, with about 0.6 ml of bile discharged per minute, and the increased gallbladder pressure lasts for about 90 minutes. The second phase response is mainly the action of cholecystokinin, which is produced by the small intestine when food stimulates the duodenum. Cholecystokinin has the effect of contracting the gallbladder and relaxing the common bile duct sphincter. The maximum gallbladder output is about 27 ml, the minimum is 8 ml, and it is rarely completely emptied.

The gallbladder secretes about 20 ml of mucus every day. The main component is mucin, a milky alkaline liquid that protects and lubricates the gallbladder mucosa. When the cystic duct is blocked, the bilirubin in the bile is absorbed and the mucus content increases, resulting in the bile appearing as white bile. When calcium salt secretion increases, it may appear as calcium bile under X-rays.

(3) Regulating bile duct pressure The gallbladder regulates the intra-biliary pressure. The intra-biliary pressure does not increase after the common bile duct is blocked for 4 hours. But after the cholecystectomy, the common bile duct dilates, the function of the common bile duct sphincter weakens, the bile duct wall thickens, and the number of mucous glands increases to adapt to the discharge of more bile into the intestine.