<p>Your gallbladder is a pear-shaped organ under your liver. It stores bile, a fluid made by your liver to digest fat. As your stomach and intestines digest food, your gallbladder releases bile through a tube called the common bile duct. The duct connects your gallbladder and liver to your small intestine.</p> <p>Your gallbladder is most likely to give you trouble if something blocks the flow of bile through the <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/bileductdiseases.html">bile ducts</a>. That is usually a <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/gallstones.html">gallstone</a>. Gallstones form when substances in bile harden. Rarely, you can also get <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/gallbladdercancer.html">cancer</a> in your gallbladder.</p> <p>Many gallbladder problems get better with removal of the gallbladder. Fortunately, you can live without a gallbladder. Bile has other ways of reaching your small intestine.</p>