Nausea and vomiting
It might feel like an overstatement to say that nausea and vomiting are key symptoms to suspect gallstones, but in the medical practice that is often the case. Patients who describe abdominal pain and do not feel any type of nausea might not have gallstones because it is one of the most common symptoms in this type of health problem, and it may help doctors conduct their suspicions appropriately.
Moreover, severe nausea and vomiting may lead clinicians to think about a possible lesion to the pancreas. Stuck gallstones might be located in various parts of the bile duct, and when it is situated on the confluence of the bile duct and the pancreatic duct, the pancreatic juice starts flowing backwards. The pancreatic enzymes become activated and start destroying the pancreas, causing severe inflammation, and leading to intense vomiting.
In every case, nausea and vomiting are caused by various degrees of inflammation, and they become worse as the inflammatory process aggravates. Thus, when the tissue gets infected nausea becomes more prevalent. However, we should not start looking for medical health before that happens. Nausea and vomiting have a strong predictive value in the doctor’s office, but patients should not wait for them to appear before looking for medical help in the event of an unusual type of abdominal pain.