Gallbladder disease is an extremely common set of disorders that appears in many patients. The two most common modalities used to examine the gallbladder are CT and ultrasound. Ultrasound is typically used first due to it being less expensive, fairly accurate, and using sound waves instead of radiation. However, ultrasound is dependent on the user or can miss diseases due to patient body habitus. This is where CT comes in, being able to visualize the gallbladder very well and being extremely accurate in finding gallbladder disease regardless of patient body habitus. However, it uses radiation and could be uncomfortable for the patient. A good goal for both modalities would be to better understand the other modality, its benefits, and its shortcomings so we can get a better idea of what to expect on both sides when looking for gallbladder disease so as to further reduce the likelihood of missing it.
