I have had a couple of bouts of gallbladder pain, about one year apart. Except for 1-2 days of bad pain, it has been more general soreness or tenderness to the touch for up to several weeks at a time. Two sonograms at different times revealed no stones. A HIDA scan gave an ejection fraction of 31%. A few months prior to the onset of the first attack, I had a bad case of food poisoning.
My questions are:
Could this acalculous, seemingly chronic, low-grade inflammation, with occasional flare-ups, be a result of damage or scarring from the food poisoning incident?
I have no stones and am not in pain very often. I am, however, having some other digestive problems (bloating, reflux, gas, etc.). Given that some of these might result from the gallbladder's inability to efficiently secrete bile when needed, how would surgery (which the doctor has recommended) help with this problem? Wouldn't a partially functioning gallbladder be better than no gallbladder at all when digesting fats?
I would like to get pregnant in the next 12 months. If I delay the surgery, am I putting my pregnancy or fetus at risk if the additional estrogens circulating in pregnancy cause an acute gallbladder attack necessitating surgery at that time? Is this an unlikely scenario?
Can you give me a reference for any information on the risks of malignancy developing in an inflamed gallbladder left intact?
Thank you for your consideration