How to check cholecystitis effectively

The examination of patients with cholecystitis includes many aspects, including questions about medical history, such as whether pain in the right upper abdomen and upper middle abdomen often occurs, or whether there is a history of other biliary colic, as well as laboratory tests and B-ultrasound examinations.

1. Medical history questions: Recurrent upper abdominal pain, mostly occurring in the right upper abdomen or middle upper abdomen, and radiating to the right subscapular area. Abdominal pain often occurs after meals, but may be unrelated to diet, and the pain is often persistent. It may be accompanied by reflex nausea, rarely vomiting, fever, jaundice and other symptoms. It may be accompanied by indigestion symptoms such as acid reflux and belching, and will worsen after eating greasy food. In acute attacks or when stones are impacted in the bile duct, typical symptoms of acute cholecystitis or biliary colic may occur. During the medical interview, the patient should be asked about the history of recurrent biliary colic, the acuteness of onset, the location of the pain, the nature and characteristics, the radiation direction, the time and associated symptoms.

2. Physical examination revealed tenderness in the right upper abdomen, which was the same symptom as acute cholecystitis during acute attacks. Some patients may have no positive signs.

3. Laboratory tests during acute attacks are the same as those for acute cholecystitis, and there may be no abnormal changes when there is no acute attack. Ultrasound examination can detect the size of the gallbladder, the thickness of its walls, the presence of stones, etc. Oral cholecystography can be used to observe whether the gallbladder has contraction function and whether there are stones in the gallbladder.