Symptoms of biliary colic
Biliary colic in gallstone disease is usually acute, severe pain. The pain has a wave-like character, i.e. it increases and decreases. The pain is usually concentrated on the upper right part of the abdomen below the ribs, but it can radiate into the right shoulder and back.
The abdomen is often hard (defensive tension), especially in the case of severe biliary colic. The pain is caused by a gallstone having entered the bile ducts. Here it blocks the flow of bile.
On the one hand, this causes a backwater that stretches the gall bladder, which can be painful. The main pain, however, is caused by the attempt of the gallbladder and bile duct muscles to push the stone further forward and push it out of the bile duct.This exhausts the muscles to such an extent that there is an oxygen deficit in the muscle, causing the muscle to feel a pain of suffocation (medical: ischemic pain).
