Are polyps in the gallbladder dangerous?

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Vu Huy Binh - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital. Doctor has 09 years of experience in the field of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Gallbladder polyp is a tumor-like or pseudotumor lesion that develops on the surface of the gallbladder mucosa, is an organizational form that originates from the gallbladder wall and protrudes into the gallbladder lumen. In addition to gallstones, cholecystitis, and gallbladder motility disorders, multiple gallbladder polyps is one of the common diseases.

Polyposis of the gallbladder is the presence of multiple papillomas within the gallbladder lumen. Usually about 5% are malignant, remaining about 95% of gallbladder polyps are benign. In most cases, the disease has no symptoms and is only discovered incidentally through ultrasound during routine health check-ups.
The size of the gallbladder polyp can make a relatively accurate diagnosis of whether it is benign or malignant. Polyps that are less than 10mm in size that do not change after many years are usually benign and you may not necessarily need treatment. However, if polyps grow rapidly in both number and size, legs spread, causing symptoms such as frequent pain, repeated fever, etc., the doctor may suspect malignant polyps and You will be advised to have your gallbladder removed to reduce your risk.

Most gallbladder polyps are benign and do not require surgical removal. Gallbladder polyps usually occur in middle-aged people over 50 years old, the polyp size is larger than 1cm and accompanied by gallstones, then it is necessary to surgically remove the entire gallbladder. Especially for polyps that are at risk of malignancy, doctors often recommend laparoscopic cholecystectomy as an option for small or solitary polyps of this type. In addition, you should advise your family members to visit the hospital for regular check-ups to be checked by an ultrasound doctor, to monitor the progress of the disease and to prescribe effective timely treatment.

When gallbladder polyp is suspected to be detected by ultrasound, but the patient has no symptoms such as pain, fever... In this case, the patient should be monitored and re-checked after 6 months or a year to determine the treatment attitude. Treatment: If after that time there are no pictures of polyps, no treatment is needed. On the contrary, when the polyp image is clear, the patient should actively go to the doctor for periodic follow-up with 6-month ultrasound if the tumor is larger than 10mm or there are malignancies detected through blood tests, other investigations. Other polyps or polyps that have clinical manifestations such as pain, recurrent fever, need early surgery. Laparoscopic surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is less invasive surgery, less pain and patients recover quickly, with few complications.
Because gallbladder polyps have no symptoms and can be cancerous, people should have a checkup every 6 months to detect and treat the disease early. It is necessary to limit the factors related to the formation of gallbladder polyps such as diagnosis and aggressive treatment of hepatobiliary dysfunction; high blood sugar, fat, viral hepatitis...