Gallbladder polyps are abnormal growths that usually don’t require medical attention, but larger ones may be cancerous and require surgical removal. Symptoms are usually mild or nonexistent, and polyps are often discovered during unrelated medical exams.
A gallbladder polyp is a growth of cells that forms in the lining of a person’s gallbladder. The growths are usually relatively small, and although they are abnormal growths of tissue, they are usually not cancerous. In fact, most can be left alone and require no medical attention. Unfortunately, larger gallbladder polyps are more likely to be cancerous than smaller polyps, and doctors often recommend that patients have them surgically removed. Also, if the condition causes a lot of pain or discomfort, surgical removal may be recommended.
Some people develop abnormal growths of cells in the lining of the gallbladder. These cell growths protrude from the lining, but are usually not large protrusions. Most gallbladder polyps are less than half an inch in diameter (about 1.27 centimeters).
Fortunately, a gallbladder polyp is unlikely to be cancerous. This fact, combined with the typical lack of symptoms in the affected parts, usually means that a person with this condition will not need medical attention. However, the outlook may be different when a person has a large gallbladder polyp. This is because large polyps are more likely to turn out to be cancerous. Doctors often recommend surgical removal of polyps larger than half an inch (about 1.27 centimeters) in diameter.
Although a small gallbladder polyp may not require treatment, a doctor may still want to monitor it. That way, he can evaluate the polyp for changes that may be cancerous. A smaller polyp that is causing more severe symptoms may also require removal. Also, an individual may need treatment if they have multiple polyps.
In most cases, a person with gallbladder polyps will not have any symptoms of the condition. When an individual develops related symptoms, they are usually mild. For example, an individual might experience pain that develops in the upper right side of the abdomen. In some cases the pain is continuous while in others an individual may only experience episodes of discomfort. In case a patient has severe pain in the upper right side of the abdomen, she may be suffering from gallbladder stones rather than polyps.
Because gallbladder polyps usually cause no symptoms, their presence is often discovered only when the patient is examined for another reason. For example, a gastric polyp may be discovered during an ultrasound that is ordered to check for gallstones. They are also sometimes found when an ultrasound is done to diagnose gallbladder inflammation.
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