Postcholecystectomy syndrome (PCS) describes the presence of abdominal symptoms after surgical removal of the gallbladder (Cholecystectomy).
Symptoms of postcholecystectomy syndrome may include:
- Upset stomach, nausea, and vomiting.
- Gas, bloating, and diarrhea.
- Persistent pain in the upper right abdomen.
Symptoms occur in about 5 to 40 percent of patients who undergo cholecystectomy.
The pain associated with post-cholecystectomy syndrome is usually ascribed to either sphincter of Oddi dysfunction or to post-surgical adhesions.
Approximately 50% of cases are due to biliary causes such as remaining stone, biliary injury, dysmotility and choledococyst. The remaining 50% are due to non-biliary causes. This is because upper abdominal pain and gallstones are both common but are not always related.
Chronic diarrhea in Postcholecystectomy syndrome can be treated with cholestyramine.
Famous quotes containing the word syndrome:
“Women are taught that their main goal in life is to serve others—first men, and later, children. This prescription leads to enormous problems, for it is supposed to be carried out as if women did not have needs of their own, as if one could serve others without simultaneously attending to one’s own interests and desires. Carried to its “perfection,” it produces the martyr syndrome or the smothering wife and mother.”
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)