What Are Gallstones and How Are They Treated?

Tucked under your liver is a small pouch with one simple job: storing bile and releasing it to help you digest fatty food. Gallstones are what can form inside that pouch over time. The video above, "Gallstones (cholelithiasis)," runs a little over eight minutes and puts it in textbook terms — cholelithiasis means gallstones are present, and they are hardened deposits (concretions) that form in the biliary tract, usually in the gallbladder itself. When a stone turns up in the bile duct instead, clinicians use a longer word for it: choledocholithiasis.

Stones that sit quietly — and stones that don't

Here's what surprises a lot of people: many gallstones never cause a single symptom. They are found by accident on a scan done for something else, and stones like that often simply need watching rather than treatment. Trouble starts when a stone temporarily blocks the outlet of the gallbladder. The result is the classic gallbladder attack — a steady pain in the upper right of the abdomen, sometimes spreading toward the back or right shoulder, often arriving after a heavier meal and sometimes bringing nausea with it. An attack that fades within hours is miserable but different from a stone that stays stuck: ongoing severe pain, fever, or yellowing of the eyes means the situation needs urgent care, not patience.

How the stones form in the first place

Bile is a balance, and stones are what happen when that balance tips. The site's shorter video "Gall bladder Stone Removed", at just under three minutes, explains it plainly: if bile carries too much cholesterol, gallstones become more likely, and the same can happen when the gallbladder can't empty properly. It also notes a second family of stones — pigment stones — which are more common in people with certain medical conditions. So there isn't one single cause; there's a fluid that can harden in more than one way.

What to expect at the doctor's

If your symptoms point toward gallstones, expect the work-up to start with your story — where the pain sits, when it comes, how long it lasts — followed by an examination and, in most cases, an ultrasound scan, which is the standard first look at the gallbladder. Blood tests may be added to check for infection or a blocked duct. Stones that are blocking the bile duct, or a gallbladder that has become inflamed, change the picture and may need hospital care and procedures to clear the duct. It's also worth knowing that gallstones sit behind some cases of pancreatitis — our guide to what pancreatitis is explains how that connection works.

How gallstones are treated

Treatment follows the symptoms, not just the scan. Silent stones usually need no treatment at all. For stones that keep causing attacks, the definitive treatment is removing the gallbladder itself — an operation most people know as a cholecystectomy, usually done laparoscopically. You can live normally without a gallbladder; bile simply flows more continuously instead of being stored. Our article on how a gallbladder is removed walks through that surgery step by step. Between attacks, your clinician may talk through pain relief and watching for warning signs — and any plan should be theirs to tailor, because duct stones, infection, and repeated attacks each call for something different.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are gallstones, in simple terms?
Hardened deposits that form in the biliary tract, usually inside the gallbladder — as the anchor video puts it, cholelithiasis is simply the presence of gallstones. A stone in the bile duct itself is called choledocholithiasis.

Do all gallstones need treatment?
No. Many stones cause no symptoms at all and are simply watched. Treatment is usually aimed at stones that cause repeated attacks, block the bile duct, or inflame the gallbladder.

What does a gallbladder attack feel like?
Typically a steady pain in the upper right abdomen, sometimes spreading to the back or right shoulder, often after a heavier meal, and sometimes with nausea. Pain that doesn't settle, fever, or yellowing of the eyes needs urgent assessment.

How long is the anchor video?
A little over eight minutes (8 minutes 13 seconds by the video file itself). It defines cholelithiasis and choledocholithiasis and shows where gallstones form.

MedicalVideos.com has published trusted medical videos since 2007. The site was founded by Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, MD, PhD — physician and researcher.

Educational only — this article is general information about gallstones, not medical advice and not a diagnosis. Severe or ongoing abdominal pain, fever, or yellowing of the eyes or skin needs urgent medical assessment.