Yes and Yes: To both questions. Unfortunately, the medication does not dissolve all gallstones and the stones recur when the medication is discontinued. It is possible to remove the gallstones and leave in the gallbladder but this is just a setup for forming more stones. Leaving a chronically inflamed gallbladder in place can also cause other problems down the line.
Answered 9/27/2018
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No: The most effective treatment for symptomatic gallstones is to remove the gallbladder and the stones. Lithotripsy to destroy the stones and dissolution treatments have been tried in the past but are not successful.
Answered 4/1/2019
5.2k views
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