Gallstones in children are often overlooked as other gastrointestinal problems and are often misdiagnosed or ignored when they are not causing serious pain.

Small gallstones in children can cause problems, but these problems mimic digestion problems. In addition, children may be prone to viral or bacterial infections, resulting in acute cholecystitis, causing the gallbladder to fill with fluid and the walls to thicken.

The gallbladder is a small organ on the right side of your body near the ribs. The function of this organ is to store bile and it aids in fat digestion. When gallstones accumulate or when children are infected with cholecystitis, gallbladder symptoms in children may be present.

The top symptom of gallbladder problems is pain in the upper right side of the abdomen. This pain can last anywhere between 30 minutes to 15 hours, peaking around 15 minutes.

Your child may also experience nausea, vomiting, indigestion, and burping and belching after meal.

If your child develops fever above 38°C (about 100.4°C) and is accompanied by chills, you should seek medical attention. If the gallstones block the path of bile, the bile may be backed up into the liver and forced into the bloodstream. This causes the skin as well as the whites of the eyes to yellow, a condition known as jaundice.

These gall bladder symptoms in children are the key signs to bring your child in to your local pediatrician. If these symptoms are not bothering your child, treatment is generally not needed. Your doctor will be able to do a full diagnoses and recommend a suitable treatment for your child. In more advance cases where these gallbladder attacks are frequent, gallbladder removal may be necessary to cease these painful gallbladder symptoms.