ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of a 43-year-old overweight male who is presented with an 8-hour history of worsening upper abdominal pain that radiates to his back. This patient has acute cholecystitis. He has a probable history of gallstones and is now febrile and Murphy's sign positive on examination. Most patients with gallstones are asymptomatic. However, complications of gallstones range from biliary colic, whereby gallstones irritate or temporarily block the biliary tract, to acute cholecystitis, which is an infection of the gallbladder sometimes due to obstruction of the cystic duct. Patients with epigastric or right upper quadrant (RUQ) pain require a full blood count, renal and electrolyte screening, liver function tests (LFT), serum calcium and amylase/lipase level to rule out pancreatitis. The patient should be referred to a general surgeon on an outpatient basis for consideration of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
