What Causes Gallbladder Sludge?

Posted on Tue, 5 Jan 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 5 Jan 2016 Answered on

Tue, 2 Feb 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : what does it mean when you have sludge in your gall bladder

Answered by Dr. Vivek Chail (-5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
It means that there is stasis of bile with probability of stone generation

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX,
Thanks for writing in to us.

I have read through your query in detail.
Please find my observations below.

1. The gall bladder is an organ which collects the bile generated in the liver and stores it temporarily. The bile is released when the food reaches the duodenum and digestion occurs.

2. In some people, the bile can stay for a longer duration in the gall bladder and this is called bile stasis. This can happen in conditions like fasting and in some diseases of the liver and pancreas.

3. When bile stasis occurs then the cholesterol in the bile sediments and becomes sludge. The sludge can become stones after some duration of time.

In conclusion, gall bladder sludge is the sedimentation of the bile which occurs due to biliary stasis and some disease states.

Hope your query is answered.
Please do write back if you have any doubts.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar