Need-to-know anatomy

The gallbladder is a small, hollow organ, shaped like a crook-necked squash, that is located under the liver. It is bound by blood vessels, connective tissue, and bile ducts. It is the key storage facility for bile, which is essential to the body's digestive system.

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When bile is secreted by the liver, it flows through a system of tubelike ducts, called hepatic ducts, to the gallbladder. There, it is stored until bile is needed to digest fat from food. After a meal, the gallbladder contracts and pushes bile through the cystic duct into another tubelike structure called the common bile duct. The common bile duct then releases bile to the duodenum, the first portion of the small intestine, where it begins to break down fat.

Gallstones can block the flow of bile if they lodge in any part of this complicated system of ducts. If bile becomes trapped in these ducts, it can lead to inflammation of the gallbladder. The end of the common bile duct also allows the flow of digestive enzymes out of the pancreas. If a gallstone blocks the opening to the common bile duct, these enzymes can become trapped in the pancreas and lead to a condition called gallstone pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and serious.

If any portion of this biliary system remains blocked by gallstones for an extended period, possibly fatal infections of the gallbladder, liver, or pancreas can result. Persistent severe pain accompanied by fever, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes), or clay-colored stools requires immediate medical attention and treatment for gallstone disease.