The main symptom of cholecystitis is severe pain in the upper right side of your abdomen that gets worse when you breathe in deeply. The pain may extend to your right shoulder blade. It may last from 15 minutes to several hours. You may have nausea and vomiting with the pain. You may also have a fever.

Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history and will examine you. You may need blood tests, an ultrasound, x-rays, or a HIDA scan.

The most common treatment for cholecystitis is surgery to remove the gallbladder. If there is a stone stuck in the duct draining the gallbladder it may be removed during the surgery. If you are not very sick and other organs are not inflamed, you may be treated with pain medicine at home until you can see a surgeon at your convenience. If you are having severe symptoms, you may need to stay in the hospital for intravenous (IV) fluids, antibiotics, and pain medicine until your gallbladder is removed.

In the uncommon case that you cannot have surgery, other treatments may be tried. If there are just a few small stones, your doctor may prescribe medicine to dissolve the stones. Sound waves have also been used to try to break up gallstones. With either of these methods, the stones will usually return.