• Robert C Whitford, Jeremy Liebman, and Jessica Baez.
• Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Division of Cardiovascular Critical Care, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky; Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky. Electronic address: robert.whitford@uoflhealth.org.
• J Emerg Med. 2023 Mar 1; 64 (3): 338344338-344.

BackgroundBalloon tamponade of esophagogastric variceal hemorrhage is a lifesaving but challenging procedure. One difficulty that often arises is coiling of the tube in the oropharynx. We describe a novel use of the bougie as an external stylet to help guide placement of the balloon to help overcome this challenge.DiscussionWe describe four cases in which the bougie was successfully utilized as an external stylet to place a tamponade balloon (3 Minnesota tubes, 1 Sengstaken-Blakemore tube) without any apparent complication. The straight end of the bougie is inserted approximately 0.5 cm into the most proximal of the gastric aspiration ports. The tube is then inserted into the esophagus under direct or video laryngoscopic visualization using the bougie to help "push" the tube into place as an external stylet. Once the gastric balloon is fully inflated and withdrawn to the gastroesophageal junction, the bougie is gently removed.ConclusionThe bougie may be considered as an adjunct for placement of tamponade balloons for massive esophagogastric variceal hemorrhage when placement proves refractory to traditional techniques. We think this can be a valuable tool in the emergency physician's procedural repertoire.Published by Elsevier Inc.

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