10) Light-colored stools
Directly associated with dark urine, light-colored stools are related to bilirubin as well. Since bile is not released to the intestines, the bile does not change the color of the stools. The brownish or yellowish color of the stools is not given by food itself. It is mainly given by the bile that’s being released into the intestines to help absorbing the fatty portion of the meal. Therefore, not having bile in the intestines because of a gallstone stuck in the bile duct would get your stools lighter and greasy.
We should point out that light-colored stools appear when the condition stays long enough to allow the intestinal transit to clear out. In the event of a gallstone stuck in the bile duct, it is often an emergency and patients have severe symptoms that will not let them wait enough hours. However, it is possible to have this finding in some cases. It should be differentiated with other problems causing light-colored stools, and it is a symptom we often pair up with dark urine and other leading signs in order to reach a correct diagnosis.
- As you can see, gallstones can be either an emergency or a long-standing situation, depending on the position of the stones in the gallbladder or the bile duct. It will be only an emergency and will turn out to be life-threatening when the gallstones get stuck. However, we should not wait for that. Prevention is of the utmost importance to avoid the lethal complications of gallstones, and even if surgery is the only solution to the problem, your doctor will give you suitable options and preventative measures adapted to your current health and medical condition. So, do not delay your diagnosis out of fear, and remember a carefully designed surgery adapted to you is a lot better than an unplanned emergency visit to the operating table.
References
Rutledge, D., Jones, D., & Rege, R. (2000). Consequences of delay in surgical treatment of biliary disease. The American journal of surgery, 180(6), 466-469.
Portincasa, P., Palasciano, G., & VanBerge-Henegouwen, G. P. (1997). An update on the pathogenesis and treatment of cholesterol gallstones. Scandinavian journal of gastroenterology. Supplement, 223, 60-69.
Lammert, F., Neubrand, M. W., Bittner, R., Feussner, H., Greiner, L., Hagenmüller, F., … & Riemann, J. F. (2007). S3-guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of gallstones. German Society for Digestive and Metabolic Diseases and German Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. Zeitschrift fur Gastroenterologie, 45(9), 971-1001.
Lammert, F., Acalovschi, M., Ercolani, G., van Erpecum, K. J., Gurusamy, K., van Laarhoven, C. J., & Portincasa, P. (2016). EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of gallstones.
