Bile Salt Drugs for Large Gallstones

[Guest guest]

For those of you with large cholestorol stones... Drugs, primarily

containing biles salts are available from your doctor. They don't

like to prescribe because of the expense AND they are sure the stones

will return. Also, it takes 6-12 months to dissolve the stones and

does not work well for calcified stones.

Many Gallstone Web pages contain this information. I got the

following from the U. of Chicago through a search under

Gallstones Bile Salts.This is off of the U. of Chicago WEB.

ken

Nonsurgical Treatment --- From U. of Chicago

Physicians use nonsurgical approaches only in special situations such

as patient intolerance to anesthetics and only for cholesterol

stones. Stones recur after nonsurgical treatment about half the time.

Oral dissolution therapy. Physicians use drugs made from bile acid to

dissolve the stones. The drugs, ursodiol (Actigall) and chenodiol

(Chenix), work best for small cholesterol stones. Months or years of

treatment may be necessary before all the stones dissolve. Both drugs

cause mild diarrhea, and chenodiol may temporarily raise levels of

blood cholesterol and the liver enzymes.

Contact dissolution therapy. This experimental procedure involves

injecting a drug directly into the gallbladder to dissolve stones.

The drugùmethyl tertbutyl ether or ethyl propionateùcan

dissolve some

stones in one to three days; however, it must be used very carefully.

Physicians are testing the procedure in patients with symptomatic,

noncalcified cholesterol stones.