Gallstone disease overview

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Gallstones is the presence of gallstones (cholelithiasis) within the gallbladder. Gallstones are crystalline bodies formed within the body by accretion or concretion of normal or abnormal bile components. Gallstones can occur anywhere within the biliary tree, including the gallbladder and the common bile duct. Obstruction of the common bile duct is choledocholithiasis; obstruction of the biliary tree can cause jaundice; obstruction of the outlet of the pancreatic exocrine system can cause pancreatitis. Cholelithiasis is the presence of stones in the gallbladder—chole- means "bile", lithia means "stone", and -sis means "process".