Pregnancy complicated with cholecystitis
Release time : 08/22/2025 09:30:04
Cholecystitis is a common and prevalent disease in daily life, but it occurs more frequently in pregnant women.
Pregnant women should be highly vigilant for gallbladder inflammation during pregnancy, as early detection and treatment are crucial to prevent harm to both mother and child.
However, many pregnant women have this question: what exactly is gallbladder inflammation during pregnancy? The gallbladder is a part of the human digestive system, known as the "bile storage".
Although bile is not secreted by the gallbladder, once it is produced by the liver, it is stored in the gallbladder before being gradually released to aid in the digestion of food.
Therefore, the harm caused by inflammation of the gallbladder directly and severely.
What does the term "pregnancy complicated with cholecystitis" mean? Due to the significant hormonal changes in pregnancy and the pressure from the growing fetus, various discomforts may occur. However, pregnancy complicated with cholecystitis is relatively less known. In fact, its incidence ranks second only to that of acute appendicitis during pregnancy. Moreover, it often accompanies the presence of gallstones.
Pregnancy complicated with cholecystitis, which is essentially acute cholecystitis during pregnancy, is caused by more than just gallstones. There are also significant reasons related to pregnancy itself.
Because women secrete a large amount of progesterone, estrogen, etc. during pregnancy, these hormones can cause the drainage of bile in the gallbladder to become slow and accumulate, making the concentration of bile thick, thereby stimulating the gallbladder and leading to the appearance of gallstones or The occurrence of cholecystitis.
The etiology of concurrent gallbladder inflammation during pregnancy is a challenging condition, often causing discomfort to the expectant mother. It can occur at any stage of pregnancy, but is more commonly observed in late pregnancy and postpartum.
Regarding the reasons for concurrent cholecystitis in pregnancy, there are several theories.
1. Bacterial Infection: Bacterial infection is one of the reasons for concurrent gallbladder inflammation during pregnancy, primarily due to the inability of the body to promptly expel bile secretions, resulting in a large number of bacterial proliferations, mainly by Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.
These bacteria ascend to the gallbladder, leading to cholecystitis.
2. Biliary stasis: Biliary stasis is a significant cause of gallbladder inflammation in pregnancy, with the primary cause being gallstones.
Not only that, gallstones can also lead to increased intra-gallbladder pressure and obstruction of blood circulation within the gallbladder, resulting in reflux of pancreatic fluid into the gallbladder from the uterine cavity, thereby causing gallbladder inflammation during pregnancy.
3. Causes of Pregnancy: In the late stages of pregnancy, as the uterus gradually enlarges, it compresses the gallbladder, impeding its function and leading to cholecystitis.
Moreover, after pregnancy, women's body will secrete a large amount of estrogen. These estrogens cause smooth muscle in the gallbladder to relax, leading to decreased contraction ability of the gallbladder, and also making the bile inside the gallbladder thicken, thus causing concurrent cholecystitis during pregnancy.
Symptoms of pregnancy complicated with cholecystitis are similar to those of ordinary cholecystitis, and most pregnant women will suddenly experience nausea and vomiting or high fever and chills.
If the cyst is large, it can be reached by hand in the abdomen, but due to the fetus in the third trimester of pregnancy, the abdominal signs are not obvious. It is precisely because of this that the condition of pregnancy with cholecystitis becomes more critical.
So, what are the main symptoms of pregnancy with cholecystitis? 1. Gallbladder perforation: When the condition worsens, necrosis or incarceration appears at the bottom of the gallbladder, which will cause abscess to appear in the necrotic part, which will lead to gallbladder perforation.
2. Abdominal pain: Abdominal pain is the main symptom of pregnancy with cholecystitis. In the early stages of the disease, pregnant women will feel slight pain in the upper abdomen. Since discomfort is prone to occur during pregnancy, this slight pain can easily be ignored.
In the later stages, the pain intensifies, causing pain in the waist, shoulders and back, and may even affect the normal breathing of pregnant women.
3. Fever: The appearance of inflammation will cause the body to automatically turn on its defense mechanisms, so pregnant women will have fever.
4. Nausea and Vomiting: Appendicitis during pregnancy can cause nausea and vomiting in approximately one-third of pregnant women. This is due to the expansion of the common bile duct.
How to treat pregnancy with cholecystitis? If pregnant women have cholecystitis, they should seek timely and effective treatment to prevent the disease from affecting the fetus or increasing the rate of difficult labor during childbirth.
For the health of mother and child, conservative treatment is mainly adopted for gallbladder inflammation during pregnancy. But if the condition is severe, the best way is to undergo surgery.
1. Medical Treatment: Medical treatment is a form of conservative treatment, which can effectively alleviate the suffering of pregnant women and newborns.
Medication can play a role in reducing inflammation and pain, promoting bile evacuation, and combating viral infections.
2. Control diet: The role of the gallbladder is to expel bile, which helps food digest and absorb. Therefore, during pregnancy with cholecystitis, patients must control their diet intake.
High-fat diets that increase the burden on the gallbladder should be prohibited, but eat more foods with high protein and sugar, and drink more water to accelerate the discharge of toxins in the body.
3. Surgical treatment: If conservative treatment does not work, the patient's pregnancy with cholecystitis will continue to intensify. The best way is surgical treatment.
However, unless the condition is extremely critical, it is still advisable to wait until after childbirth before undergoing surgery.
Surgical treatments include cholecystectomy and pus drainage for the focus.
How to prevent pregnancy with cholecystitis? Although there are many causes of cholecystitis in pregnancy, since the main role of the gallbladder is to participate in the digestion and absorption of food, if pregnant women do not control their diet, it will lead to excessive bile secretion and increase the burden on the gallbladder, thus increasing the probability of pregnancy Complicating cholecystitis. Therefore, in order to prevent cholecystitis during pregnancy, a reasonable diet is also very critical.
1. Replenish water: Drink plenty of water. The daily drinking volume of pregnant women should reach 2000 ml. This is the key method to prevent pregnancy with cholecystitis, because sufficient water can effectively reduce the concentration of bile and prevent bile from being too sticky.
2. Eat less and more meals: It is best for pregnant women to eat less and more meals every day to avoid overeating at one time, which will overload the gallbladder.
Eating fewer and more meals can stimulate bile secretion in a small amount and multiple times and make bile discharged smoothly.
3. Vitamin supplementation: Pregnant women should eat more fresh vegetables and fruits and comprehensively supplement various vitamins, especially vitamins A, C, and E, which can effectively protect the gallbladder. Thereby fundamentally preventing the occurrence of pregnancy complicated with cholecystitis.
4. Light diet: During pregnancy, it is not advisable to consume high-calorie and high-fat foods, as these do not easily digest and unknowingly increase the burden on the gallbladder.
It is recommended to consume foods rich in dietary fiber to promote gastrointestinal motility and prevent cholecystitis.
The medical information provided in this text is for reference only.
If you feel discomfort, it is recommended to seek medical advice immediately. The diagnosis and treatment are based on a face-to-face consultation with a medical professional.