Acute cholecystitis history and symptoms

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Dildar Hussain, MBBS [2]

The majority of patients with cholelithiasis are asymptomatic. Acute cholecystitis occurs as a result of prolonged gallstone obstruction in the bile duct, one to four patients develop biliary colic and about 20% of these patients develop acute cholecystitis annually. The hallmark of acute cholecystitis is biliary colic. A positive history of biliary colic, nausea and vomiting is suggestive of acute cholecystitis.

The hallmark of acute cholecystitis is biliary colic. A positive history of biliary colic, nausea and vomiting are suggestive of acute cholecystitis. The most common symptoms of acute cholecystitis are right upper quadrant abdominal or epigastric pain, pain is usually prolonged and there is a positive history of pain after ingestion of heavy fatty meals. The pain is severe and steady and may radiate to the back or right shoulder.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Patients with acute cholecystitis may have a positive history of:

• Advancing age
• Female gender
• Obesity
• Parity
• Family history
• Genetic factors
• Right upper quadrant abdominal pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Fever

Common symptoms of acute cholecystitis include:

• Biliary Colic
• Nausea
• Vomiting

Less common symptoms of acute cholecystitis include:

• Fever
• Tachycardia
• Malaise
• Jaundice
• Palpitations

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