Dubai: Surgeons at Khalifa General Hospital in Umm Al Quwain have removed 1,600 gallstones of various sizes from an Emirati woman in her forties.
Dr Tahir Helmi, General Surgery Consultant and Endoscopic Surgery and head of the medical team, said: “The patient initially visited the outpatient clinic because she was suffering from chronic pain in the upper right side of the abdomen for more than a year.”
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An ultrasound was subsequently carried out, which discovered a very large number of gallstones – indicating that she suffered from cholelithiasis.
The medical team at Khalifa Hospital performed the one-hour operation by using a surgical laparoscope.
In a statement, Dr Helmi expressed his surprise when discovering that the patient had 1,600 stones in her gallbladder, all in a number of different sizes.
The operation was carried out successfully without any complications, and after two days, the patient was discharged from hospital.
What are gallstones?
Gallstones are small stones, usually made of cholesterol, that form in the gallbladder.
Gallstones are thought to develop because of an imbalance in the chemical make-up of bile inside the gallbladder.
This mostly occurs when the levels of cholesterol in bile become too high, and the excess cholesterol forms into stones.
You're more at risk of developing gallstones if you are either:
- Overweight or obese
- Female, especially if you've had children
- If you 40 years old or over
Source: UK National Health Service (NHS)
