Lyme and the gallbladder

This an area of Lyme medicine which deserves more attention. Many Lyme patients end up with removal of the gallbladder. Lyme can infect the wall of the gallbladder and cause chronic inflammation. This appears to happen with increased frequency when there is also evidence of Salmonella infection. In the past most gallbladder disease was related to gall stones. There has been a change. Most patients with gallbladder disease no longer have stones; they have chronic inflammation of the gallbladder. Patients with gallbladder disease have recurrent bouts of abdominal pain which starts out mild but gradually builds up to severe pain. The pain may be located in the right upper abdomen or be generalized to the entire abdomen. Nausea and vomiting may occur. In the past doctors have ordered a sonogram to evaluated the gallbladder. When the problem is related to infection this test will be normal. The diagnosis is made with a nuclear medicine scan called a HIDA scan, with the administration of a hormone called CCK. The hormone injection will likely cause the symptoms to recur and the test will showed a low ejection fraction, indicating abnormal functioning of the gallbladder. Generally, successful treatment requires removal of the gallbladder which can be done with a minimally invasive laparoscope. The fact that intravenous Rocephin is known to cause gallbladder attacks may suggest that this is a sort of Herxheimer reaction involving a gallbladder which is already infected with Lyme bacteria.