A 46-year-old Caucasian female presents to the PCPs office with a chief complaint of severe intermittent right upper quadrant pain for the last 3 days

A 46-year-old Caucasian female presents to the PCPs office with a chief complaint of severe intermittent right upper quadrant pain for the last 3 days

A 46-year-old Caucasian female presents to the PCP’s office with a chief complaint of severe, intermittent right upper quadrant pain for the last 3 days. The pain is described as sharp and has occurred after eating french fries and cheeseburgers and radiates to her right shoulder. She has had a few episodes of vomiting “green stuff”. States had fever and chills last night which precipitated her trip to the office. She also had some dark orange urine, but she thought she was dehydrated.

Physical exam: slightly obese female with icteric sclera as well as generalized jaundice. Temp 101˚F, pulse 108, respirations 18. Abdominal exam revealed rounded abdomen with slightly hypoactive bowel sounds. + rebound tenderness on palpation of right upper quadrant. No tenderness or rebound in epigastrium or other quadrants. Labs demonstrate elevated WBC, elevated serum alanineaminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels. Serum bilirubin (indirect) 2.5 mg/dl.  Abdominal ultrasound demonstrated enlarged gall bladder, dilated common bile duct and multiple stones in the bile duct. The APRN diagnoses the patient with acute cholecystitis and refers her to the ED for further treatment.

Question 1 of 2:

Describe how gallstones are formed and why they caused the symptoms that the patient presented with. 

Question 2 of 2:

Explain how the patient became jaundiced.