What Is the Treatment for Gallbladder Polyps?

Gallbladder polyps are abnormal growths on the gallbladder, the organ that stores and releases bile from the liver to aid digestion. Gallbladder polyps are seldom cancerous.

Gallbladder polyps are growths or lesions that form on the inner lining of the gallbladder. Most gallbladder polyps are benign but in rare cases (about 5% of the time) they can be cancerous.

Most of the time gallbladder polyps cause no symptoms. 

When symptoms of gallbladder polyps do occur, they may include: 

• Abdominal pain on the upper right side
• Indigestion
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Bloating
• Back or shoulder pain

Causes of gallbladder polyps include:

• High cholesterol levels in the bile
• High salt levels in the bile
• Thickening of the gallbladder wall (adenomyomatosis)

Risk factors for developing gallbladder polyps include:

• Gallstones
• Genetic predisposition
• Obesity
• Gardner syndrome, a type of familial polyposis
• Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, a genetic condition
• Hepatitis B infection

Gallbladder polyps usually cause no symptoms and they are often discovered when a patient is examined or tested for another condition. 

Imaging tests used to diagnose gallbladder polyps include:

• Transabdominal ultrasound 
• Endoscopic ultrasound 
• Computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen 

Patients who have no symptoms of gallbladder polyps usually do not require treatment. Doctors generally suggest regular monitoring with ultrasound to see if the polyp gets bigger. 

Treatment for patients who are symptomatic involves surgical removal of the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) for: 

• Polyps larger than 1 cm
• Patients with gallstones
• Patients with a high risk of developing cancer
  • The size of the gallbladder polyp can often indicate whether it is cancerous
  • Polyps that measure less than a half inch in diameter are usually benign
  • Polyps larger than a half inch in diameter have a higher risk of becoming malignant (developing into cancer)
  • Polyps larger than three-fourths of an inch have a high probability of being malignant

Most gallbladder polyps do not cause any symptoms or complications. 

The main complication of gallbladder polyps is gallbladder cancer, which occurs in about 5% of cases.