Sludge is calcium bilirubinate associated with bile stasis

Abstract

Biliary sludge is a frequent finding on abdominal sonography. It is most often found after prolonged stasis of gallbladder bile associated with other illness or mechanical obstruction of the common duct, and seldom indicates primary gallbladder disease. In most cases, sludge is a suspension of pigment precipitates in bile, and is at least in part calcium bilirubinate. Sludge may disappear with the return of normal gallbladder contractility. The ease with which this precipitate forms during stasis of gallbladder bile suggests a role for this process in the pathogenesis of cholelithiasis.